Gravy Wrestling Uncovered

Cheers to Quosh for emailing me this article and shedding light on what passes for entertainment in Bacup on a Bank Holiday Monday. How did that old Jam tune go "Found myself in a strange town..."

Grandma Pollard’s, Walsden.

Possibly the greatest General of all time Hannibal is reputed to have stated “to begin is to be halfway there.” So when the time came to kick off my search for Fish and Chips perfection, I decided to start at a place that I knew would get me off on the good foot as the Godfather of Sole would put it. A family day out at Hardcastle Crags above Hebden Bridge provided the perfect excuse for a visit to Grandma Pollard's which is situated directly opposite the railway station in nearby Walsden. The Pollard family have been serving up Fish and Chips for more than 50 years and their reputation as purveyors of top quality tucker is renowned in these parts. After a couple of hours walking around the Crags, me and the rest of the family were more than ready to tuck in. People queuing outside the door at 5.15 on a Monday night is a sure sign that you're not going to be disappointed. As we waited patiently we took in the range of delights on offer, not just top notch Fish and Chips fried in Beef dripping (as is traditional in Yorkshire) but also home made savoury pies, fruit pies and huge vanilla slices. All of which would have Fern Britton reaching for the wire cutters. A team of sturdy Yorkshire lasses were servicing the queue and in next to no time four lots of Fish and Chips and one home made Meat and Potato Pie, Chips and Gravy were being carted back to the car for immediate consumption. There is an eat-in option here but sometimes you can't beat wolfing your scoff in the car and steaming up all the windows. It's an approach that is particularly popular with old folk at the seaside and once I get to retirement age I guess I'll be joining them complete with my flask and blanket, staring out to sea, contemplating infinity whilst musing about Joyce’s hip replacement.
Anyway, back to the food. The Fish and Chips (£3.95) as anticipated were superb, the Fish in particular was done to perfection. Golden brown batter and lovely white flaky Haddock, take a look at the picture (in a perfect world all computers would have smellovision) and you could savour the aroma of Salt, Vinegar and Beef dripping. A nice old school touch is that they still come wrapped in newspaper - keeping it street yeah! I thought that the EEC had banned that? Having said that, we were in Yorkshire (just) and maybe the directives from Brussels haven't percolated down here just yet.
Minor quibbles were maybe just a tad too much salt on my portion and the better half said she didn’t get
enough chips, but then again she is a greedy get! Our lass’s Pie, Chips and Gravy combo was also proving a winner, tasty, crusty pie with a hearty filling and good old fashioned gravy with no lumps - delicious.
Grandma Pollard's scored a nine out of ten rating and has really set the standard. It'll take some beating.
On the way back we drove through Bacup, a town which is real “League of Gentlemen” country. We came across this Wrestling Gravy sign and would love to hear from anyone who could shed some light on it. Maybe like the infamous Coco-Nutters it’s just a Bacup thing?