''Seafood seafood''

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pureclaret
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''Seafood seafood''

Post by pureclaret » Fri Jun 27, 2025 11:17 am

So I cant remember what the actual cry was, but can you settle 2 discussions / arguments that I am currently enjoying with my darling wife.

But when I started going in pubs in Burnley mid to late 70s men came i with a tray like the ones used in cinemas for Ice cream, One was what they shouted ?
and 2 I thought they sold Muscles, cockles, and pork scratching's , my wife says they sold parched peas (Black peas in vinegar) Now I remember having them hot with vinegar and pepper around November? can anyone remember the sellers call and also what they sold?

Buxtonclaret
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Buxtonclaret » Fri Jun 27, 2025 11:26 am

Similar arrived in my local, at the time. Friday nights.
Around the same time as the Sally Army. ;)

Cardclaret
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Cardclaret » Fri Jun 27, 2025 11:29 am

Yep and they wore white coats and carried a large wicker basket at least the guy in Accy did.
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martin_p
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by martin_p » Fri Jun 27, 2025 11:31 am

Can’t remember the last time I saw one, 90s maybe?

Sure they were just there to prove that people will buy anything when they are p***ed.

ClaretOfMancunia
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by ClaretOfMancunia » Fri Jun 27, 2025 11:32 am

We used to get the samosa man in Manchester. Early 2000s. A quid for a large samosa, used to carry them in a large tray through all the pubs around Ancoats/Oldham Street.
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by ŽižkovClaret » Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:08 pm

ClaretOfMancunia wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 11:32 am
We used to get the samosa man in Manchester. Early 2000s. A quid for a large samosa, used to carry them in a large tray through all the pubs around Ancoats/Oldham Street.
He'd make a killing off me :lol:
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ChrisG
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by ChrisG » Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:14 pm

You've just triggered a very obscure memory for me, I remember these chaps when I worked in the Miners in the early 2000s

longhair
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by longhair » Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:26 pm

Kershaws cockles and prawns a scouser in the pubs in burnley allways greeted with have you got crabs🤣🤣
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Jakubclaret
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Jakubclaret » Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:27 pm

martin_p wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 11:31 am
Can’t remember the last time I saw one, 90s maybe?

Sure they were just there to prove that people will buy anything when they are p***ed.
The humble doner kebab preceded that.

DCWat
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by DCWat » Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:33 pm

Jakubclaret wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:27 pm
The humble doner kebab preceded that.
Preceded?

dsr
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by dsr » Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:33 pm

Albatross! Albatross!
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cbx750
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by cbx750 » Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:38 pm

Bloke in Tod in the 70's used to shout seafood but a mate got him to shout seaweed.

Jakubclaret
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Jakubclaret » Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:39 pm

DCWat wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:33 pm
Preceded?
I'm sure my old bean the kebabs were knocking around in the 80s era

GordonvaleClaret
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by GordonvaleClaret » Fri Jun 27, 2025 1:07 pm

"Cold Fish" is what I loved!
I reckon it was battered fish as sold in the chippy, was frozen and then distributed in wicker baskets in pubs etc. By the time you got it, it was no longer frozen, just cold, and juicy, and delicious.

claret3561
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by claret3561 » Fri Jun 27, 2025 1:08 pm

I think the original 70s cry was cockles, mussels, prawns. The original guys came from Wigan and people often cadged a lift from them to the casino when they had finished.

bobinho
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by bobinho » Fri Jun 27, 2025 1:11 pm

longhair wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:26 pm
Kershaws cockles and prawns a scouser in the pubs in burnley allways greeted with have you got crabs🤣🤣
That’s the fella I remember. Had a bit of a ‘cod-eye’ if I remember rightly.

Nice fella… always cheery and smiley despite some of the “bants” he used to get.

NottsClaret
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by NottsClaret » Fri Jun 27, 2025 1:13 pm

Cardclaret wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 11:29 am
Yep and they wore white coats and carried a large wicker basket at least the guy in Accy did.
Exactly how I remember it, ‘cockle man’ came round every Friday night, always surprisingly popular. Big guy with a beard in Ossy, mid-90s.

Andingle
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Andingle » Fri Jun 27, 2025 1:18 pm

Screenshot_20250627-131216_Google.jpg
Screenshot_20250627-131216_Google.jpg (394.09 KiB) Viewed 2202 times
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Whitgord » Fri Jun 27, 2025 1:22 pm

NottsClaret wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 1:13 pm
Exactly how I remember it, ‘cockle man’ came round every Friday night, always surprisingly popular. Big guy with a beard in Ossy, mid-90s.
He was doing well still working at that age! ;)
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DCWat
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by DCWat » Fri Jun 27, 2025 1:24 pm

Jakubclaret wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:39 pm
I'm sure my old bean the kebabs were knocking around in the 80s era
Yeah, OK. Kebab shops preceded blokes going around pubs selling cockles and the likes. :roll:
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No Ney Never
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by No Ney Never » Fri Jun 27, 2025 1:42 pm

The Kershaw bloke..."Cockles, mussels, prawns, welks".
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eastanglianclaret
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by eastanglianclaret » Fri Jun 27, 2025 2:40 pm

dsr wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:33 pm
Albatross! Albatross!
Do you get wafers with it?
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Jakubclaret
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Jakubclaret » Fri Jun 27, 2025 2:49 pm

DCWat wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 1:24 pm
Yeah, OK. Kebab shops preceded blokes going around pubs selling cockles and the likes. :roll:
I do humbly apologise profusely for not accurately recording when the first seafood snacks & kebabs became the choice of the intoxicated. I'd happily wager a bet after a skinful you are thinking of doners & not crab sticks.

No Ney Never
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by No Ney Never » Fri Jun 27, 2025 2:54 pm

Jakubclaret wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 2:49 pm
I do humbly apologise profusely for not accurately recording when the first seafood snacks & kebabs became the choice of the intoxicated. I'd happily wager a bet after a skinful you are thinking of doners & not crab sticks.
Maybe he was thinking of crabs if he ever visited kinky Karen in Cumbria. :D

LeadBelly
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by LeadBelly » Fri Jun 27, 2025 2:57 pm

I remember buying cockles from the guys (scouses?) who did Burnley pubs on Friday evening in early-mid 1970s (when I frequented Nelson Inn/Borough); went very well with a pint or two.
Last one I saw was in Nottingham. I went with a family member to an ODI at Trent Bridge (v Pakistan I think) and after it ended went into the Parliament Square area in a pub (Bell Inn?) and encountered the "cockle man" I was very pleased to see him for a cockle fix and he was quite a character.

Later I saw he had a degree of fame as one of the last of his sort https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-n ... e-26383900

fatboy47
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by fatboy47 » Fri Jun 27, 2025 3:02 pm

claret3561 wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 1:08 pm
I think the original 70s cry was cockles, mussels, prawns.
..followed by "" alive alive-oh"" ?
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Tribesmen
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Tribesmen » Fri Jun 27, 2025 3:26 pm

fatboy47 wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 3:02 pm
..followed by "" alive alive-oh"" ?
Was going to say that , buts that's for the Dubs

DCWat
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by DCWat » Fri Jun 27, 2025 4:07 pm

Jakubclaret wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 2:49 pm
I do humbly apologise profusely for not accurately recording when the first seafood snacks & kebabs became the choice of the intoxicated. I'd happily wager a bet after a skinful you are thinking of doners & not crab sticks.
You’d be winning that bet!! :D

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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by dougcollins » Fri Jun 27, 2025 5:08 pm

Moonies with roses.

Goalkeeper
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Goalkeeper » Fri Jun 27, 2025 5:26 pm

claret3561 wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 1:08 pm
I think the original 70s cry was cockles, mussels, prawns. The original guys came from Wigan and people often cadged a lift from them to the casino when they had finished.
So there was people in pubs in the Burnley area who just happened to be there with their change of gear (and their gear) just in case a fish seller came in, who may or may not have taken them to Wigan Casino?
Didn't most people get to the Casino by mini bus?

Woodleyclaret
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Woodleyclaret » Fri Jun 27, 2025 5:48 pm

We had cockle sellers in the pubs in West Lancs These were guys who were on the dole and cockled on Southport beach bringing their wares round to supplement their benefits

mkmel
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by mkmel » Fri Jun 27, 2025 9:23 pm

Buxtonclaret wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 11:26 am
Similar arrived in my local, at the time. Friday nights.
Around the same time as the Sally Army. ;)
Exactly the same down south in the early 1970's in my home town of Dunstable.

Always on a Friday night and also the Salvation Army and their War Cry.
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Spike
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Spike » Fri Jun 27, 2025 9:30 pm

Who remembers the one ormed cockle man?
He simply shouted cockles and mussels

boatshed bill
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by boatshed bill » Fri Jun 27, 2025 9:55 pm

Very popular in Torbay, 70's to 80's as I recall.
Cockles, mussels, whelks and crabsticks. Not sure about prawns.

Gerry Hattrick
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Gerry Hattrick » Fri Jun 27, 2025 10:51 pm

No Ney Never wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 1:42 pm
The Kershaw bloke..."Cockles, mussels, prawns, welks".
And quite often "Kippers" as well.
There was a team of 'em not just the one guy, all with scouse accents. I remember seeing 'em get out of a van by the Wellington on Saturday nights then split up to do the pubs and clubs of Fulledge , Burnley Wood, Yorrshire Street - there were loads in them days - and the town centre.

There was also a fella who wandered the streets of Fulledge every Saturday evening with a big wicker basket shouting " Sykes-tor- pe- dos" which were steaming hot pasty shaped meat and tater pies. Delicious.

AND, ....... the old guy who about an hour after the match finished, walked around the same area shouting "Last Sports Pink",- the paper which had a comprehensive report of the game, so soon after it ended, which he sold from a canvas bag slung 'round his shoulder.
Thanks for the memories :-)

Bow
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Bow » Fri Jun 27, 2025 10:54 pm

There was a cockles and mussels fella in the clitheroe pubs around 2000

BurnleyMickSouth
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by BurnleyMickSouth » Fri Jun 27, 2025 11:16 pm

Well heres one i hope somone remembers, my dad was called "Matt" he was a very proud Irishman, he came here to England in the early 1950s, one of the first jobs he ever had was doing the "basket" as he called it, he would get his basket with cockles, welks, and mussels etc, and would set off on a friday night about 7 pm to get the train it was then called "Puffing Billy" from what was then called Bank Top Station, to Colne he would go around all the pubs & clubs in Colne with the basket untill he had sold everthing and then get the last train back to Burnley, and back to his digs as he called it in those days, never once did he encounter any trouble while doing his round, good days i suppose but bloody hard work. :lol:
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Row x
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Row x » Sat Jun 28, 2025 8:02 am

longhair wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 12:26 pm
Kershaws cockles and prawns a scouser in the pubs in burnley allways greeted with have you got crabs🤣🤣
Weirdly, the best thing Kershaws had in the basket was packs of bacon

ClaretCliff
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by ClaretCliff » Sat Jun 28, 2025 8:32 am

Someone mentioned the Salvation Army going round pubs selling Warcry. They also sold a paper/comic for kids called The Young Soldier. Had a few puzzles and jokes in it. My dad used to bring it home for me, Haslingden late 50s and early 60s. Anyone else remember it?

Taffy on the wing
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by Taffy on the wing » Sat Jun 28, 2025 10:51 am

eastanglianclaret wrote:
Fri Jun 27, 2025 2:40 pm
Do you get wafers with it?
I think you know the answer to that!

timshorts
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by timshorts » Sat Jun 28, 2025 9:31 pm

According to predictive text, I live in Seafood.

dougcollins
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Re: ''Seafood seafood''

Post by dougcollins » Sun Jun 29, 2025 8:46 am

timshorts wrote:
Sat Jun 28, 2025 9:31 pm
According to predictive text, I live in Seafood.
Seacombe?

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