WHAT''S the cheapest you've ever paid for a helping of fish and chips?

Friendly arguments over this have popped up among customers of this column since my piece (September 2) about Blaylock's bygone chippie and the old-time chipshop scene in general.

I'd recalled paying one shilling and sixpence (7p in new money) for this toothsome treat in my distant past.

But 78-year-old Sid Parry of Loughrigg Avenue, Clinkham Wood, says that, as a Parr Central pupil before the war, he paid just one old penny for a split of chips and peas at Mrs Day's chippie, complete with free scratchings (bits of fish-batter sifted from the boilers).

And Beattie Hardman, of Moss Bank, whose parents had Dennett's chipshop at Pocket Nook Street during the 1930s, can even beat that for value. They charged tuppence (less than a modern 1p) for fish, chips and peas, she says.

That was during a time when customers brought their own large dinner plates, to ensure that they got generous helpings. Big families (they abounded then) and local work-gangs left their plates stacked high on the counter for collection later.

Then, the salt and vinegar-soaked platefuls were tucked under clean dishcloths to keep them warm for the homeward journey on foot. No family cars or disposable food containers in those days!

CAN anyone beat Sid and Beattie's bargain-basement chippie prices?

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