[Closed] Harry Ramsdens - RIP

Heard it on the radio, but once a business is bought and run on pure cash terms...

Just shows how the corporate world can screw up a good local business.

corporate world can screw up a good local business.

yes - THE most famous local business in Guiseley/Menston; potentially West Yorkshire.

Pook - Member
corporate world can screw up a good local business.
yes - THE most famous local business in Guiseley/Menston; potentially West Yorkshire.

Think I went there once.

Agreed corporate world screws everything up, happening in my world right now.

The most overrated dining experience in the North West?

To see people lining up to wait in the rain to pay nearly £20 for 2 (unspecified) fish and chips is to look into the hopelessness of the human condition.

Market forces. If you can't make a business work at thise prices, something is terribly worng.

I love fish and chips. Some fantastic ones in WYorks. Theres a Harry Ramsdens within a mile of my house. I've never ever been to a Harry Ramsdens, never will.

They just don't appeal. I'll stick to my indie fishy LBS 8)

North WEST???!?!

How dare you sir!

I live near and TBH there are better chip shops in Guiseley. It's a shame but I think its time has come

Only been to one, which must have been post corporate takeover cos it was crap and expensive..Mc'harry Ramsdens it should have been called

Thats how imagine them to be 'McRamsdens'.

Is only one shop 🙄

I remember going as a kid too. I also once worked the pans there as I worked for the same company and they were short-staffed.

flip its the Beeb. The journalists/editors etc there are being very political of late. BBC24 is wall to wall with recession and double-dip to sink the coalition/countries recovery.

This is just one shop but it could add and hint to more to add to their agenda..

flip its the Beeb. The journalists/editors etc there are being very political of late. BBC24 is wall to wall with recession and double-dip to sink the coalition/countries recovery.

Cause and effect? Bit harsh to shoot the messenger, the conservatives sink the country's recovery and the BBC report on it. Anyone remember the heady days of 2010 when we were actualy growing and unemployment was falling? This must be at least the third "double dip" since then. How long before Osborne admits that his very short sharp cuts are having a very short term effect of crippling the economy and he can't keep blameing everything else for his policies.

Back on topic, the shop down by the pier in Saltburn does the best fish and chips 🙂

Cause and effect?

How am I going to spend my £7 profit then? 😥

saw harry ramsden himself at guisley restaurnt wen i was a bairn,also my first arab!(who was wif his bunch of wifes all havn fish/chips.....

Is only one shop

I used to go with my Grandma ~30 years ago to the original shop. It resembled a slightly up-market motorway cafe and was overpriced even then and the food was nothing special.
Then they sued Harry Ramadan's over the road which showed a major lack of sense of humour and unwillingness to compete.

The Magpie in Whitby, now there's a chippy to get excited about.

Ah, Bless the Northerners with their itchy woolen socks.

We have chains of bike shops, they have chains of chip shops. 😀

Harry Ramsdens in Brighton was where I had one of the most disappointing fish'n'chips I've had in a long time. 🙁

Had some lovely fish'n'chips in a cafe in Ilkley mind. Fantastic. And from a cafe in the centre of Bradford.

The point is that it's the original Harry Ramsden's shop that's being closed...

So why can it not reopen as an independent? Barry Ramsdens!

Get rid of all the 'corporate' claptrap and make it a real chippy once more. Unless it isn't really viable.

Its going to become an Aldi apparently

Sometimes big business just don't get it & would care less if they did

I remember when they [Heineken, I think] moved the production of Newcastle Brown ale from the City Brewery to Gateshead - ****ing Gateshead! they may as well have moved it to Sunderland

And what plank thought you could brew the 'Cream of Manchester' anywhere else other than Strangeways?

Cream of Manchester my arse..dishwater of strangeways nick is more like it...
Orrible stuff... 😕 And yes..I'm a manc..an it's still crap!!!

Cream of Manchester my arse.

I think you missed the point that that was the strap line for all the ads

but yeah, crap indeed

Beeb24 is on a constant loop though and constantly saying the word recession..just before Christmas - the most important trading time for alot of retailers etc. Shake consumer confidence wont it?

Idiotic to blame the BBC. Didn't you hear Osborne's Autumn statement?

I haven't had a pint of Boddies since they moved from Strangeways. The first pint always used to smell of puke but the vast number that followed it were perfect. Happy days.

Wen't to Harry Ramsdens once as a treat, soggy pale batter, dry fish and chips that somehow managed to be cooked, but look raw.
My joint most disappointing eating experience with a pork pie from Harrods food hall.
I expected both to be fine examples of their type. Neither of them were even average to my taste.

They're not usually too weepy about history and reminiscing, when money's being waved in their faces.

Blacksheep isnt brewed in the Blacksheep brewery anymore.. Tetleys isnt brewed in Leeds anymore...

[i]Its going to become an Aldi apparently[/i]

At least you'll be able to get decent quality fish there then.

Blacksheep isnt brewed in the Blacksheep brewery anymore

Is it not? - where's it brewed now then?

Blacksheep isnt brewed in the Blacksheep brewery anymore

..and, horror of horrors, HP sauce isn't made in England any more.

It's not as if Blacksheep had much history behind it anyway - started in the 90s didn't it?

but I still thought it was brewed in Masham

Cream of Manchester

That's....

....just....

.....wrong. 😐

Sat in Harry Ramsdens guisley right now.

Wish I hadn't bothered to be honest ! Poor quality and overpriced.

Murgatroyds is better, and they aren't that good either really.

Will be better once Aldi build their supermarket here I reckon ?

Blacksheep isnt brewed in the Blacksheep brewery anymore.. Tetleys isnt brewed in Leeds anymore...

Nah, I've done the tour recently. You're maybe thinking of OP (same family, same village)?

Masham is great.

I went to the one in Bournemouth about 10 years ago. Quite liked it really but then I was given more to eat than I could manage - always a good sign for me 😉 I think it was an eating challenge with enough chips to feed a small Irish family.

You're maybe thinking of OP (same family, same village)?

Yep sorry was Theakstons...

I ate there once whilst I lived in Leeds. It was never in the same league as the chippys in headingly Bryans and forget the name of the other one on North Lane that used to use propper dripping MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

perhaps they lost their sole?

Old Peculier (and all the other brews) are still brewed in Masham.

[I]bottled[/I] somewhere else though. I did the brewery tour about 6 weeks ago

Stuff is brewed in Masham, and that goes localy only ie in to the Dales.

The rest is now brewed in Newcastle or some where by one of the big breweries.

Edit: Stand corrected now!

"The Carlisle brewery was closed in 1987, and brewing of some Theakston beers was transferred to Scottish & Newcastle's Tyne Brewery.

In 2004 the business returned to family ownership after being purchased back from Scottish & Newcastle by four Theakston brothers. Major development works at the Masham Brewery enabled the company to announce that brewing of Theakston Bitter would return to Masham in 2009.[3]"

Went for fish and chips at Murgatroyds in Yeadon earlier this year but couldn't get in as queue was out of the door, so drove down to Harry Ramsdens. Not been there for years and remembered the queues and ornate interior but found the place nearly empty and the building more faded glory than modern restaurant. Meal was OK and not too expensive, but not somewhere I would choose to go again. Interesting comparison between old fashioned Harry Ramsdens and modern day Murgatroyds and the relative demand for each bearing in mind they are only a couple of miles apart.

Best chippy in Leeds by a margin

http://www.theskyliner.co.uk/

Isn't "best chippie in Leeds" a bit like saying "best singer in Millie Vanilli"?

Harry Ramadan's over the road

I used to work in a warehouse that was next to Harry Ramsdens and in the 4 years I worked there only went to the chippy once. The chips looked anemic and the batter on the fish wasn't much better , it's one of those places (like 'The Magpie' in Whitby) that trades on it's past history not the quality of it's wares.

Might have to try the 'Skyliner' one day but my favourite chippy is 'Midgley's' on Butcher Hill/West Park , monster portions/tasty/cooked properly.

Tis sad, my sister used to be the Postman Pat and my mum lives down the road by the Land Rover garage.

Guiseley is just a lot of retail parks now

perhaps they lost their sole?

Elfinsafety - Member
Ah, Bless the Northerners with their itchy woolen socks.
We have chains of bike shops, they have chains of chip shops.
Harry Ramsdens in Brighton was where I had one of the most disappointing fish'n'chips I've had in a long time.
Had some lovely fish'n'chips in a cafe in Ilkley mind. Fantastic. And from a cafe in the centre of Bradford.
POSTED 20 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

You went to a Harry Ramadens in a sea side town? There must have been a load of proper fish shops, with fish straight from the sea you were there to look at.

Jeez, it's a good job people dont believe what they read on the Internet... Chinese whispers and all that. Boddingtons cask bitter is still brewed in Manchester, at the Hydes brewery in Moss Side. Theakstons andBlack Sheep are both brewed in Masham. Newcastle Brown Ale is brewed in Yorkshire now though, in Tadcaster, at the old John Smiths brewery. As is the way of the world. They should rename the stuff though, it is rather misleading, particularly after 9 bottles.

Perhaps it's time to brush off that early nineties expression:

[i]Media-driven recession[/i]

Why?

I miss the smell of the old Vaux brewery in Sunderland.

I was also jealous of the of the lab technician who used to come into the Vaux pub I worked in. He'd order 3 pints, stick a thermometer in one, some powder in the other, and drink the 3rd.

He never seemed stressed.

A couple of blokes from Vaux set up the Double Maxim brewery in Hetton I think, so you can still drink some of the better beers they made. I know what you mean about the brewery though, it was the heart of the city, sponsored the football club and all that, and the site dominated the city. The same with the Newcastle brewery. History and heritage count for nowt these days though, for some people at least.

The corporate takeover branch in Manchester served horrible food. Only went there once, never again.

Jeez, it's a good job people dont believe what they read on the Internet... Chinese whispers and all that. Boddingtons cask bitter is still brewed in Manchester, at the Hydes brewery in Moss Side.

Theakstons andBlack Sheep are both brewed in Masham.

Newcastle Brown Ale is brewed in Yorkshire now though, in Tadcaster, at the old John Smiths brewery. As is the way of the world. They should rename the stuff though, it is rather misleading, particularly after 9 bottles

Which bit of the internet Chinese whispers did I get wrong? 🙂

If we're going to be pedantic, the bit about 9 pints, the bit where Gateshead is not Tadcaster, and the bit about Theakstons. 😆 Oh, and what makes you think my post was aimed at you?

the bit where Gateshead is not Tadcaster

GG I wasn't incorrect totaly. Theakstons was produced outside of Masham for quite a few years...I just missed the bit that it had moved back to Masham 🙂

I suppose if your going to brew awful beer you might as well have it all in one place ie Tadcaster. Does anyone actually like Samuel Smiths, or does the low price tag drag people in?!?

FunkyDunc - No worries matey, Theakston's didn't seem to make a song and dance about the move back to Masham for some reason, so a lot of people still think they brew elsewhere.

I know what you mean about Sam Smiths, but if you find a good pub that serves the beer correctly it can be a nice pint, if quite bland. Most Sammy Smiths pubs serve up vinegar though, but people still drink it as it's so cheap. The bottled stuff is magic though - try the Taddy Porter, or the Nut Brown Ale. It's nothing like the Newcastle (Tadcaster?) stuff. 😉

I think you'll find that Newky Brown was moved from the City Brewery to the Fed brewery in Gateshead long before they moved it to Tadcaster
but never mind

I actually used to brew the stuff at the Fed, so I did know that. I think you'll find innacurate pedantry gets you nowhere. 🙂

I actually used to brew the stuff at the Fed, so I did know that.

Didn't think I was being inaccurate or pedantic by saying that they moved the brewing from Newcastle to Gateshead, because that's what they did, it's hardly a small insignificant point

They later moved it from Gateshead but that was obviously after they'd paid no regard to the name of the stuff, which is what the whole thread is about

Didn't think I was being inaccurate or pedantic by saying that they moved the brewing from Newcastle to Gateshead, because that's what they did, it's hardly a small insignificant point

It's not an insignificant point, but I never said it was. You came in all defensive and pedantic regarding my post for some reason, if that makes you happy, then so be it.

Oh, and back to the OP, I pass that Harry Ramsden's regularly, it will be strange to see it not there.