Big Ron serves his last chippy tea

Irrepressible fish fryer Ron Riley and his wife Sandra have been the beaming faces behind Beech Hill’s The Trawlerman for approaching a quarter of a century.

The couple took over the proudly-traditional chippy in Woodhouse Drive after the dad of two used his redundancy from his Royal Ordnance factory machinist job to strike out in a new direction.

The marriage of his niece following a holiday romance saw a Cypriot clan welcomed into the family and it was here that the idea of entering the chippy trade began.

Ron bought a holiday home in Cyprus, taught himself Greek and spent many happy hours there with his family.

It wasn’t that long ago that food trend doom-mongers were warning that chip shops were frying on borrowed time because of the popularity of pizza parlours, kebabs and curry in the fast food mad UK.

But rugby fan Ron, whose daughter Rachael is married to an ex RL pro, says that Wiganers still have a hunger for a traditional chippy tea - as the success of The Trawlerman continued to show.

Ron said: “There are do’s and dont’s, of course, but there are no great secrets to it.

“Stick to great ingredients, good fish cooked fresh when customers walk in and the best potatoes.

“And I have always changed my oil every week, rain or shine, whether it needed it or not.

“I can honestly say that I looked forward to every Friday night because the place was always buzzing and so many of the customers have become friends.

“There’s no doubt I will miss it like crazy ... I’m missing it already.”

The Up Holland couple are now planning to put up their feet with the grandchildren.

And the Trawlerman itself will sail on with proud new skippers Steve Westhead and Vicky Booth.