The Crispy Cod has been serving customers in Pinkett Street in Northwick for 19 years – and there has been a fish and chip shop in the same place for more than 90 years.

Owner Predrag Djuric has been busy over the last few months putting together a history of the shop with the help of Sheena Payne-Lunn, one of the co-ordinators of the immensely popular Worcester Life Stories project.

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And he must be doing something right. Predrag said one of his most memorable moments was when one of their customers told him that they had been visiting the shop for over 50 years: “He thought we had the best fish and chips he’d ever had.

Food cabinet

“I was amazed that he had been coming to the shop for so long and felt proud that he enjoyed what we make.”

As is the norm with long-standing chippies, you know what you’re going to get at The Crispy Cod: lightly battered traditional fish and chips!

The fish, sustainably sourced from the North Sea, mostly from the seas around Iceland, comes in three varieties: cod, haddock and plaice.

On top of that, the chippy also sells sausages, fish cakes, cod roe, vegetarian spring rolls, scampi, chicken nuggets, pasties, pies, burgers (including vegetarian), chicken portions and kebabs, children’s meals and lunchtime specials.

Range

Have there been any strange requests or stories from customers?

“One of our customers once asked if I could batter some halloumi; unfortunately we don’t batter anything other than our fish and sausages but I’m sure that would taste quite nice!

“We also once had an order from a local charity for over 100 portions of mini fish and chips, however we were able to fulfill this as we specialise in big orders.

“It’s also been great to meet customers from different parts of the world; we’ve had people in the shop from Germany, Australia, Canada, Spain and the US to name a few.

“Fish and chips has been served in the same location as the current shop since the year 1930, which means that last year we celebrated the shop’s 90th anniversary.

“In order to mark the occasion we created a photo display of old photos of the local area. This was with the help of Sheena Payne-Lunn at the Northwick Manor Community Heritage Project and the display is currently hanging up on the wall of the shop.”

The first owner of the shop was Miss Finch who opened the shop using the garden of 1 Pinkett Street.

Since then the shop has continually served fish and chips to Worcester residents while changing hands an estimated seven times.

The Crispy Cod owner Predrag Djuric with a display inside his shop of old photos of local businesses

From Miss Finch (1930) to Mr Hales (c1937), to Mr Ricketts (c. 1950), to Mr Frank Darke (c1960), to Mr. Rene Baldwin (c1970), to Mr Dukes (c1980), to Mr Barry Briges (1987) and finally to Predrag and his wife, Mila, who received the keys to the shop in 2002.

Predrag said: “It’s now coming up to 19 years that we have been here, and we have been immensely proud to be a part of the shop’s history and to follow in the footsteps of the previous owners by serving the community.”

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