This fish fryer belonged to the Richards' family who opened a chip shop in North Street, Whitwick, Leicestershire in 1920.
An illustration for an identical frying range appears in Panikos Panayi's book 'Fish and Chips, a History' (2014) which The Chip Fiends wrote about previously.
The coal-fired fryer was an exhibit at Snibston Discovery Museum, built on the site of Snibston Colliery.
Positioned in the museum, it faced a reconstructed office of Ellis and Everard Coal Merchant. The latter had an employee seated at a desk looking out towards the chip shop, seemingly for all eternity. Selling coal to Mrs Richards to feed the chip stove, to feed the Ellis and Everard employee, to sell coal... And so on.
But eternal this was not to be. Snibston museum closed to the public in July 2015. Will the chip shop range find a new home? Or will it remain at the planned coal mining heritage centre?
Review of Panikos Panayi's book
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