Fish & Chips

The British tradition of eating fish and chips goes back to the early 19th Century. In his novel Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens mentions a 'fried fish warehouse'. However, the fish and chip trade as we know it didn't begin to develop until the 1860s.

There is a dispute over where the very first fish and chip shop was - a Mr Lees claimed in 1863 that his shop in Mossley, Lancashire was "the first fish and chip shop in the world". However, in 1860 in London Joseph Malin opened a fish and chip shop on Cleveland Street, within the sound of the Bow Bells.

Nowadays, fish and chips are a national institution. There are over 8,000 fish and chip shops throughout the UK, which vastly out-numbers the number of fast food chains.

This stamp was issued in August 2005 as part of the Changing Tastes in Britain stamp series.

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