A beloved Prestwich chip shop has been named amongst the UK’s best for the second year running – and its owners are absolutely overjoyed.
Prestwich chippy Chips @ No.8 was named amongst the very best in the country by 2022 Fry Magazine Awards, alongside two other Greater Manchester chippies – The Little Chippy in Tyldesley and Wigan’s The Fish at Goose Green.
And with this year’s pass mark set high at 96%, Chips @ No.8 scored an impressive 98% – with the mystery diner particularly praising the high quality, freshly cooked to order food, the friendly and professional staff and eco-friendly packaging.
In a series of ebullient social media posts, Chips @ No.8’s owner Dan Edwards shared his amazement that, out of over 10,500 chippies, his had made it into the Top 50 for two years now.
Image: Chips @ No.8
He wrote: “Wow! What a day! We’ve just found out that out of over 10,500 fish and chip shops, our little chippy down a side street in P-Town has made @frymagazine Top 50 fish and chip takeaways in the country for the 2nd year running!!!”
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Continuing in another post, he revealed that when he opened the shop four years ago he didn’t even like fish and chips, and had only fried three fish in his life.
Having sunk ‘almost everything’ he had into doing the shop up and spending the rest down the road at All The Shapes manchester on ‘breaks’, six months later he opened his doors for a moment of truth.
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How the shop looked before Dan renovated it. / Image: Chips @ No.8
How the chip shop looks now, four years and two awards later. / Image: Chips @ No.8
He called the move “a moment of madness”, and said that he had “just wanted to be my own boss” – adding “I either sank or swam… fortunately, I discovered I was incredibly bouyant.”
He’s not wrong. Locals absolutely rave about his little chip shop down a side street. And now it’s been awarded with a national gong, too.
“Two and a half years later we were listed in the UK’s best 50 chippies out of over 10,000 shops, and we have no plans to rest on our laurels,” he finished.
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In an additional comment, he told The Manc: “To have made the list two years running is an incredible achievement and the whole team can be very proud of themselves.
“We try to provide all our customers with a great all round experience every time they visit and that means we have to be continually on top of our game.
“We use only the finest, locally sourced ingredients, we fry in beef dripping and our fish is delivered fresh every day, caught in UK waters by UK fisheries. You can taste the freshness and it really makes a difference”
Image: The Little Chippy, Tyldesley
To choose the winners for this year’s Fry Magazine Awards, mystery diners sampled thousands of portions of fish and chips from shops up and down the country.
Alongside Chips @ No.8, Tyldesley’s The Little Chippy and The Fish at Goose Green in Wigan also made it into this year’s top 50 – with The Fish at Goose Green taking home the gong for the third year running.
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All takeaways and restaurants that entered will receive their mystery dining report, a winner’s poster and plaque to proudly display in their shop.
Reece Head, competition organiser, commented: “We’re so pleased to announce this year’s winners. The awards recognise and celebrate the hard work, passion and dedication that these operators put into running their businesses.
“It’s been a tough couple of years for the industry, in particular for restaurants that have had to deal with closures, but operators continued to adapt, motivate their workforce and invest in new equipment and systems that have seen them come out the other side stronger and in a better position.
“Our 50 Best Takeaway and 10 Best Restaurant winners really do represent the best in the business and they continue to showcase fish and chips as a high quality, value for money meal.”
Feature image – Chips @ No. 8
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Heartbreaking new figures show 35% of all children in the North West are living in poverty
35% of all children in the North West are currently living in poverty, some heartbreaking new figures have revealed.
Some new research carried out to understand regional levels of child poverty, conducted by Loughborough University for the End Child Poverty Coalition, has sadly revealed over a third (35%) of all children in the North West are living in what is called ‘relative poverty’, after the cost of housing is considered – which is higher than the national average standing at 31%.
Over in the Lancashire authority of Pendle, this figure reaches 45%, making it the second highest rate of all local authorities in the country.
In Greater Manchester, both Oldham and Manchester join Pendle in the list of the 10 council areas with the highest child poverty rates in the UK, as well as Blackburn with Darwen, and Hyndburn, and to make matters worse, the North West features on the list more times than any other region nationwide.
Rusholme was identified as the Manchester area with the highest percentage rating – with more than half (51.3%) of all children there living in poverty.
88% of constituencies across the North West have a quarter of children in poverty.
This could lead to things like families being forced to use food banks, children going without warm clothes in winter, or living in cold or unsafe housing.
As a result of these shocking statistics being revealed, the End Child Poverty Coalition – which represents more than 135 organisations across the UK – is calling on the Government to meet its manifesto commitment to address these high levels of child poverty, not just in the North West but also across the rest of country.
“These figures should demonstrate to Government just how important it is to quickly address this so to prevent another generation of children from growing up in low-income families,” commented Rachel Walters, who is the End Child Poverty Coalition Manager.
“The Government’s strategy to tackle child poverty must invest in children in areas with higher levels of poverty, like the North West.”
Graham Whitham, who is a End Child Poverty Coalition spokesperson and the Chief Executive of Resolve Poverty, added: “No child should go without the things they need to be healthy and happy.
“The Government’s forthcoming national Child Poverty Strategy must demonstrate a clear ambition to ending child poverty in this country, backed by specific targets and immediate investment in social security.”
Featured Image – RawPixel
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Manchester’s ‘busiest’ road to close for annual safety checks this weekend
Manchester’s ‘busiest’ road is set to close this weekend while annual safety checks are carried out, it has been confirmed.
As Manchester City Council looks to maintain and improve what is, by far, one of Manchester’s busiest and most-used roads, given the fact it is the main thoroughfare in and out of the city centre, it has been confirmed that Mancunian Way is set to close overnight this weekend for its annual inspection.
Carried out every year, the Council explains that these closures ensure that ‘vital’ safety inspections can be conducted to allow the major road to continue operating as normal.
The overnight closure will take place from 7-8 June.
From 5am on Saturday (7 June), Mancunian Way will be closed in both directions along its entire length, including all slip roads, between the Chester Road roundabout and Fairfield Street, and this will last until 7pm on Sunday (8 June), after which the road will be open to traffic again as normal.
In the meantime while the closures are underway, the Council assures that a signed diversion route will be in place via the north and eastern ring road sections – Trinity Way and Great Ancoats Street – and a local diversion route will be signed via Bridgewater Street, Whitworth Street West, Whitworth Street, and Fairfield Street.
Manchester’s ‘busiest’ road Mancunian Way is closing for annual safety checks this weekend / Credit: Pixabay
During this period there will also be a lane closure east/westbound at the Deansgate Interchange between 6:30-9:30am, and the inbound lane of Princess Road (heading towards Manchester) between 6:30am and 11:15am.
As is to be expected with these kinds of tasks, Councillors say they are preparing for a ‘level of disruption’ but are intending to keep it to a minimum.
“The annual inspection of the Mancunian Way is a vital job which ensures that the tens of thousands of daily users of this road can go about their journey in safety,” explained Councillor Tracey Rawlins, who is the Executive Member for Clean Air, Environment, and Transport.
“We do expect a level of disruption throughout this process so wherever possible we’d advise people to travel via public transport, or plan an alternate route ahead to avoid the work locations.
Georgina Pellant -
10th March 2022 
