TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH

Any Tripe or Neats Feet or Calves Feet, plate 3 from Twelve Cries of London,
I,6o, /y Pau/ Sand/y. ( Muscum of London.
TRIPE
A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
Marjory Hou/iban
uitb tuo su/cmcntary cssays
The Decline of Tripe
by Roy Shipperbottom
and
Elder: A Good Udder to Dinner
by Lynda Brown
PROSPECT BOOKS
2011
First published in Great Britain in 2011 by Prospect Books at
Allaleigh House, Blackawton, Totnes, Devon TQ9 7DL.
The nrst publication oI H Most Excc//cnt Disb/ Ta/cs of tbc Lanca sbirc
Tripe Trade by Marjory Houlihan was in 1988, by Neil Richardson,
Bolton. The nrst publication oI 'The Lecline oI Tripe' by Roy
Shipperbottom was in Disacaring Foods, Procccdings of tbc Oxford
Symposium on Food and Cookery 1994 (jj,), by Prospect Books,
Totnes. The nrst publication oI 'Llder: A Cood \dder to Linner"'
by Lynda Brown was in Petits Propos Culinaires z6 (j8;).
2011, this edition, Prospect Books.
j8;, j88, jj,, zo their several contributions, Marjory
Houlihan, the estate of the late Roy Shipperbottom, Lynda
Brown.
Cover illustration zo Steven Scholes (c/o The \nicorn
Gallery, 1 Kings Court, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
,AR).
The authors assert their right to be identined as the authors in
accord ance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.
BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA:
A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British
Library.
Typography by Lemuel Dix and Tom Jaine.
ISBN 978

903018

81

1
Printed and bound in Malta by Gutenberg Press Ltd.
CONTENTS
Introduction
The Decline of Tripe, by Roy Shipperbottom 7
A Most Excellent Dish! Tales of the Lancashire Tripe Trade,
by Marjory Houlihan 13
Afterword
Elder: A Good Udder to Dinner, by Lynda Brown 161
6 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
H sboucard issucd /y Unitcd Catt/c Products Ltd in tbc Ios.
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 7
THE DECLINE OF TRIPE
T
here were 260 specialist tripe shops in Manchester in
1906: in 1994 there are none. In 1924 there were ten
tripe works in the area belonging to members of United
Cattle Products Ltd. and, additionally, some independent tripe
dressers: seventy years later tripe dressers no longer operate in
the city or in the county of Greater Manchester. Parry Scraggs of
Liverpool say that thirty years ago there were nine tripe dressers
in Liverpool and there are now only nine in England, Scotland
and Wales. There are certainly only nine members of The
National Association of Tripe Dressers, three in Yorkshire and
others in Leicester, North Devon, Brighton, Newark, Liverpool
and Perth. There are non

members in Stockton, South Shields

and Padiham, Lancashire.
Tripe is part of the stomach of an animal, usually an ox,
cleansed and made nt Ior eating. AIter the animal is slaughtered
the stomachs are removed and go into a special room to be
cleaned with spray rods. EEC conditions for the approval of meat
plants insist that further treatment of the stomachs must take
place in a separate unit. The cleaned paunches, which are chilled
and may be frozen, are bought by tripe dressers whose function
is to remove membranes which envelop the stomach and then
boil the tripe. After cooking, the tripe is bleached and trimmed
or dressed. These operations are simple, a certain skill with a
scrubbing brush was once necessary to remove a membrane
and leave behind fat. This prevented weight loss and was then
preIerred by customers but it is diBcult to understand why some
8 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
boys were formally apprenticed to the trade unless it was cheap
labour. Within living memory the equipment of the tripery or
tripe works consisted oI metal tanks nlled with scalding hot
water, a table on which to scrub and scrape the tripe and tubs
nlled with weak bleach. The equipment today consists oI a large
washing machine drum with vanes revolving in hot water which
removes the mucous membrane from one side of the stomach.
The stomach is then placed in a Parmentire, sometimes known
as the carborundum which describes the abrasive interior which
removes the visceral membrane and fat. As the name indicates,
the Parmentire was designed to remove potato skins. The
tripe is Iurther cleaned and inspected and nnally cooked at about
,o
-
60C, after which it is bleached in a very dilute peroxide in
a tank or 'beck' and, nnally, rinsed. A 'beck' is also the name Ior
a small stream and just as the Parmentire replaces an early
method for abrading the membrane with a rough stone, so the
survival of the word beck continues the advice given in the
Boo/ of Hunting oI ,86, 'The tung, the brains, the paunch and
the neck. When they be washed be well with the water of the
beck.' (Halliwell, Dictionary of Hrcbaic Words, 8,o).
Cattle have four stomachs; the paunch or rumen which
provides seam tripe and the reticulum which is smaller and yields
the preIerred honeycomb tripe. The diBcult

to

clean omasum
or Bible bag is often used for pet food. The abomasum or black
tripe is sometimes known as manifold except in Ashton

under

Lyne and district where it is called what must be one of the
ugliest names for a food... slut. Slutty is a Lancashire dialect
word for dirty; the same tripe in Burnley is known as ladies
tripe. The terms for various parts of tripe vary from town to
town. The tripe dresser also prepares Wezand or weasand,
sometimes known as bellrope; it is the oesophagus, a ringed
tube which is boiled, slit lengthways and Battened.
Tripe dressers also de

hair, skin and boil cowheels and collect

the neatsIoot oil and other operations considered to be oBensive
both to modern sensitivities and the Public Health Act oI 8;,
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 9
which imposed a duty on councils to impose a system of hygiene
on the trade.
A modern works has stainless steel tables and tanks, stainless
screens and extractors, and one can only enter by wading through
a disinfectant footbath. The enforcement of strict hygiene
regulations by the inspectorate insisting on expensive equipment
has discouraged some tripe dressers who, complaining that
they could not aBord it or that the returns would not cover the
cost, have gone out of business. But in the past it has been a
prosperous trade for some and as Marjory Houlihan has shown
in H Most Excc//cnt Disb/ Ta/cs of tbc Lancasbirc Tric Tradc, some
tripe families became prominent in politics and property. She
also prepared a Bolton Tripe Map indicating the distribution of
76 tripe shops in 1911
-
they are now all closed and her long list
of Lancashire tripe dressers and dealers in 1924 would today be
limited to two tripe dressers and a few dealers who operate on
a franchise basis as distributors to butchers shops and market
stalls.
Restaurants specializing in serving tripe dishes and other
oBal existed in every Lancashire town. The various Iamilies, in
addition to operating tripe works, had developed a number of
shops as outlets. They also often had behind the shop a caf
or restaurant where tripe and cowheel dishes were always on
the menu. Hills had a prominent restaurant in Manchester,
above Marks and Spencer, and Voses of Bolton opened, in 1917,
a restaurant in Wigan, seating 300, with panelled walls, palm
trees and a ladies orchestra, and called it the Tripe de Luxe
Restaurant and Tea Room. \hen a number oI tripe nrms in the
1920s combined together to form United Cattle Products Ltd
the number of restaurants increased and every Lancashire town
had at least one UCP shop and restaurant with the red oval sign
proclaiming Purity and Quality. The Pall Mall Restaurant opened
in Manchester in 1964 in a new building with a banqueting
suite, self

service restaurant and a shop front on the principal

shopping street.
A MOST EXCELLENT DISH!
TALES OF THE LANCASHIRE
TRIPE TRADE
MARJORY HOULIHAN
14 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH ,
WHERE HAVE ALL THE TRIPE
SHOPS GONE ?
I
little thought, as I chatted to an old neighbour, just what
our conversation would lead to. We talked about Mrs Deans
early life in Bolton, and all the changes that had taken place
in the town. When I were a girl, mi mother kept a tripe shop up
Halliwell, an thats summat ynever see these days.
Thats true, I replied. We went on to discuss other matters,
and I forgot her earlier comment.
Later that evening, however, remembering our conversation,
the thought struck me with some force
-
you never DO see tripe
shops nowadays! As if to reinforce the germ of an idea, among
the next days post was a newsletter from the Local History
Study Group, and at the meeting which followed I put forward
the subject of tripe as a possible project which might be of local
interest.
One thing led quickly to another. I contacted the Bolton
Ezcning Ncus, and thanks to the kindness of the Editor my
appeal for information was published a week later. That night the
phone hardly stopped ringing; it seemed that nearly all Bolton
was anxious to tell me about tripe! By the end of the evening it
was obvious that the project had aroused a great deal of interest,
and that therefore it was a subject well worth looking into.
16 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I should like to thank the following for their help and support:
Members of the Bolton WEA Local History Study Group.
The Tripe Dressers Association; Mr R. Shiach; Mr J. Hill; Mr
K. Hemmingway; the late Mr B. Emms; Mr R. Byrne; Messrs A.
& R. Entwistle; Mr S. Bradshaw; Mr P.T. Briggs; Mr Hayhurst;
Mrs Worsick; Mrs M. Goodier.
The local history and reference librarians of public libraries in
Accrington, Ashton

in

Makerneld, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bury,

Burnley, Chorley, Clitheroe, Farnworth, Bolton, Haslingden,
Heywood, Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester, Nelson, Colne,
Oldham, Preston, Ramsbottom, Rawtenstall, Salford, St Helens,
Stalybridge, Stockport, Sheffield, Warrington, Wigan and
Longsight, Manchester; also the Co

operative Union Library;

and staB at Manchester Polytechnic Local Studies \nit, as well
as at Hollins Faculty.
Mr Bob Dobson, Mrs P. Vose, Mrs Grafton

Green, Cath
Goodall. The editors and staff of the Bo/ton Ezcning Ncus,
Mancbcstcr Ezcning Ncus, Sta/y/ridgc Rcortcr, St Hc/cns Star, Ecc/cs
Journal.
BBC Radio Manchester, Bill Evans, Mr F. Smith, Fred
Laycock, Bill Davies, and many other Boltonians too numerous
to mention individually, for their memories, loan of photographs,
drawings and other material. Last but not least, my husband
Peter, for his tolerance and understanding in putting up with
hastily cooked meals, bad temper and absent

mindedness on my
part, all oI which he has had to suBer during the time it took to
research and compile this book.
Marjory Hou/iban, Bo/ton, I88
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 17
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
What is Tripe? 19
Ear/y History
Tbc Ninctccntb Ccntury
Tbc Tucntictb Ccntury
CHAPTER TWO
From Abbatoir to Factory 29
CHAPTER THREE
The Principal Combines 34
Parry Scragg Ltd.
Unitcd Catt/c Products
Somc Tric Drcsscrs Past and Prcscnt
KRM Products
Ricbard Byrnc Ltd
Hi// c Hi/cy
Entuist/c`s
Briggs` Tric Wor/s
Worsic/`s of Co/nc
Bradsbau Brotbcrs
Marsb of Wa//dcn
Pcnd/c/ury`s Tbc Tric Co/ony
CHAPTER FOUR
Bolton
-
Trotter Town 67
Some Bolton Tripe Families
Voses
Cbar/ic Smitb`s
Bo/tonians Ta//ing Tric
CHAPTER FIVE
Tripe
-
Past, Present and Future 93
18 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
CHAPTER SIX
Tripe Recipes 97
Traditional
Ncu and Unusua/ Disbcs
Rccics from H/road
APPENDIX
Lancashire Tripe dressers and Dealers, 1924 131
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 19
CHAPTER ONE
WHAT IS TRIPE ?
A
ccording to the Oxford Eng/isb Dictionary, the word tripe
comes from the Old French tripe or trippe, meaning the
entrails of an animal, and the principal meaning is the
first or second stomach of a ruminant, especially of the ox,
prepared as Iood. (Formerly the word could also reIer to the
entrails oI swine or nsh.)
An oxs stomach is very large, occupying three

quarters
of the abdominal cavity. It consists of four parts; the rumen,
reticulum, omasum and abomasum, the last

named having a
mucous membrane and popularly termed the true stomach.
An ox weighing between 700 and 800 lb will produce about
, lb oI tripe, although tripes can vary Irom to o lb in weight,
depending on the age and breed of the animal. The rumen, or
paunch, is the largest part of the tripe, and is known as seam.
The walls of the reticulum, or second stomach, are covered
with branched ridges, giving it a honeycomb appearance, which
gives this part its name. Leaf tripe is so

called because of the

membrane of leaf

like folds of the abomasum; this has a high

fat content. Another part of the animal, the oesophagus or
food pipe, is also classed as tripe, and is known as weasand.
All these parts pass through the same cleaning and preparation
processes.
Tripes from other animals are also considered edible.
Sheeps tripes, for example, are used in the preparation of pieds
ct aqucts /a Marsci//aisc and petarram, two delicacies from the
south and south

west oI France. The use oI the nrst stomach

20 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
of beef is well known in dishes such as the famous tripes la
mode de Caen and gras

dou//c /a Lyonnaisc, two other French

specialities. Finally, of course, the intestines of pigs have long
been used to enclose sausages.
EARLY HISTORY
The origins of tripe dressing are lost in the mists of time. It has
a known history of over 2,000 years, having been esteemed by
both the Greeks and the Romans. Athenaeus praised it; Homer,
the father of Greek poetry, noted the excellence of the tripe
prepared in honour oI Achilles, Thomas MuBet (in his Hca/tb`s
Improvement, edited after his death by Christopher Bennet in
6,,) declared that, 'The taste oI Tripes did seem so delicate to
the Romans, that they often killed oxen for the Tripes sake.
It was said that William the Conqueror enjoyed tripe
accompanied by Neustrian apple juice. However, it is unlikely
Tbc four cbam/crs of a cou`s stomacb, and otbcr arts dca/t uitb /y tric
dressers.
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 21
that the cooks of the Middle Ages were adept in the preparation
of tasty, well

seasoned dishes!
The Oxford Eng/isb Dictionary cites numerous early references
to tripe. It is mentioned by Langland in Piers Plowman, by
Caxton and, of course, by Shakespeare, whose character Grumio
enquires, in Tbc Taming of tbc Sbrcu, How say you to a fat tripe
-
nnely broiled:' In , Sir Thomas Llyot gave a description oI
'the inwards oI beastes, as trypes and chytterlynges'. (Chitterlings
are the smaller intestines of the beast, prepared for eating by
Irying or boiling.)
In 1662 Samuel Pepys wrote, Dined with my wife upon a
most excellent dish of tripe of my own directing
-
covered with
mustard
-
of which I made a great meal. A year or so later he
again records, Home to dinner on tripes.
Arbuthnots Harmony in Uroar begs To invite you to eat a
Tripe

soup and Fricassey of Sheeps Trotters. Oliver Goldsmith

praised the dish, as did Charles Dickens. In Barna/y Rudgc, one
of the characters was regaled with a steaming supper of boiled
tripe and onions, to which meal he did ample justice. It has been
said that King Edward VII was also fond of a dish of tripe.
The word tripe was sometimes used in a derogatory sense,
when applied to a person. Tripe

cheeks, for example, described

someone with coarse, blowsy cheeks. Shakespeare, in Hcnry V,
wrote, Thou damned Tripe

visagd Rascall.
A Tripe

wife was a female tripe dresser, not always of

respectable character. Was not thy mother a notorious
tripewife? demands Brome, in his City Wit.
Trotters and cowheels are also mentioned in the literature of
the past. Mayhew, in London La/our and tbc London Poor, wrote,
For supper there is a sandwich, a meat pudding or a trotter.
Cowheel, stewed so as to Iorm a jelly, is recommended by MuBet:
A tender cowheel is counted restorative. John Wesley advised
in his Primitizc Pbysic of 1747: Take a cowheel from the Tripe

house, ready drest.

The word tripe has been used to describe things with a
22 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
supposed resemblance to tripe. Tripe

velvet or Tripe de Velours

was an imitation of wool or thread, mock velvet, velveteen or
fustian. A 1714 book of rates records: Eighty tripes of velvet, per
piece of 10 Ells, 3s od.
Rock

tripe or tric dc rocbc was an appellation given to various

edible lichens in Canada which aBorded a slightly nutritious
but bitter and purgative food, as described by Alexander Henry
in his Trazc/s and Hdzcnturcs in Canada and tbc Indian Tcrritorics,
published in 1809.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Tripe has played its part in making the north and midlands the
workshops of Britain. As the cotton trade grew in importance,
mill hands did not have enough time or energy to cook meals
in their homes during the week and tripe therefore became the
ideal food
-
cheap but nourishing.
Tripe dressing was an acquired skill. In the Archives
Department of Manchester Public Libraries there is a copy of
an apprenticeship indenture (dated z; ]anuary 8), binding one
Joseph Newton of Manchester, a poor child of fourteen years,
to James Lane, tripe dresser, also of Manchester.
Tbc magistratcs` ccrticatc tbat
uas attacbcd to ]oscb Ncuton`s
arcnticcsbi indcnturc.
34 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
CHAPTER THREE
THE PRINCIPAL COMBINES
PARRY SCRAGG LTD
This nrm was Iounded by Frank Parry, who bought a tripe works
in Carruthers Street, Liverpool, around 1922. A limited company,
F.L. Parry (Milk

meat) Ltd, was Iormed in jz; and tripe was

dressed in the same building for over 60 years.
In j;, Parry Scragg Ltd was Iormed, with a ,o per cent
shareholding oI F.L. Parry Ltd and ,o per cent oI Scragg (orth
\estern) Ltd. The amalgamation with the Scragg company
(itselI over oo years old) was brought about by a Compulsory
Purchase Order being served on Scraggs premises in Borax
Street, Liverpool, compelling them to look for alternative
accom modation.
\hen the two nrms merged they extended the Carruthers
Street works, bought the present factory in 1979, and at the time
of writing are looking at other property with a view to further
expansion.
About 18 people are employed inside the works, and self

employed franchise agents obtain sales in Scotland, the midlands

and the south. There is a van delivery service to the Lake District
in the north, and down to Crewe, the Potteries and Bangor in
north Wales.
Mr Shiach, the managing director oI Parry Scragg, com
mented that in a rough line stretching between Glasgow and
Edinburgh people are now buying English, or cooked, tripe.
There was a time when they would only purchase raw tripe and
prepare it themselves. In the Border region there is no demand
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH ,
at all, and in Cumbria and Northumberland there is a winter
trade only. Conversely, in Lancashire and Yorkshire the emphasis
is on summer trade.
In the south, a Brighton nrm has no trade in summer and
has to lay oB workers until business starts up in the winter. So
although there is some demand for the product in other areas
of Britain, it is in Lancashire and Yorkshire where the main sales
tradition exists.
In the old days, clogs and sacking aprons were worn, but
nowadays Parry Scraggs employees wear wellingtons and blue
boiler suits at the dirty end of the works and white boiler suits
at the clean end. They also have large rubber aprons, covering
the whole front of the body, which can be easily washed down
after the days work.
Approximately 1,700 ox bellies are processed by Parry Scragg
every week, even more in the summer months, and around one
and a quarter million gallons of water is used every year
-
the
company's water bill amounts to more than the Iuel bill (lighting,
heating and Iuel oils combined)!
Mr Shiach predicts that the trade will probably change direc
tion in the future, with tripe being prepared in sauces and meat
products similar to ptes, used as a nller Ior sandwiches and
canned as ready

meals. At present there are only about seven

abattoirs killing more than a thousand cattle a week, and we are
now in competition with other tripe

eating countries such as

France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Nigeria.
UNITED CATTLE PRODUCTS
The UCP has been well known in the Greater Manchester and
Lancashire areas Ior upwards oI 6, years. Today the company
mainly supplies wholesalers, although there are still several tripe
stalls in local markets owned or managed by the UCP.
The UCP was formed in 1920 with the amalgamation of
some , Lancashire tripe dressers, such as ].S. Hill's, Ralph
Mason of Burnley, Cox of Bury and Vose of Bolton. The
36 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
Hn adzcrtismcnt for Unitcd Catt/c Products Ltd from tbc I:os.
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 37
rapid growth of the combination led to the building of new
hygienic Iactories, such as those at Levenshulme (jz;) and
Monton (j8). The head oIIices oI the enterprise were in
Manchester.
The bulk oI the company's production was at nrst sold to
individual retailers, giving them the advantages of guaranteed
quality and continuity of supply.
Fifty years after the formation of the UCP, long

serving
employee Fred Wetters recalled his early years in the trade. He
went to work Ior a Stockport tripe dresser in j, and began
his day by collecting the post and picking up orders from two
shops
-
the nrst Irom under a stone in the yard and the second
from under a vinegar bottle on the counter!
The UCP also advised retailers on improving or reorganizing
their businesses; free advertising was provided in the form of
showcards and recipe books. The firm expanded into other
nelds, such as pie

making, meat, nsh, poultry and delicatessen

products. The \CP Bourished in the north oI Lngland, although
it has campaigned in the south, trying to persuade house wives
there that tripe is good for digestion and the domestic budget.
UCP tripe is sold perfectly cooked, ready for serving. The
firms advertising emphasized the savings in fuel costs and,
There are no bones to waste
-
you buy a pound and eat a pound.
New UCP depots were usually planned with dining

rooms
behind the shops, where hot and cold meals could be obtained.
These became landmarks in Lancashire, with their warm, red

painted fronts
-
in order to brighten up the grey streets!
-
and
the famous oval sign. There were UCP cafs and restaurants in
Manchester, Blackpool, Southport, Oldham, Bolton, Maccles
neld, Rochdale, Bury, Stockport, \igan and many other towns,
each assuring quality, comfort and no fancy prices.
The Market Street Restaurant (Hill's) in Manchester was Ior
nIty years one oI the \CP' s best known eating

houses. In June
1964 the company opened another restaurant in Pall Mall.
,z TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
been an inBux oI cooked meats and other delicacies, one could
buy tripe oB the ration during the wartime years, so people were
glad to try other products.
Another factor was marketing, or the lack of it; tripe never
had modern marketing techniques applied to it.
My brother put forward one or two ideas, and we had special
cards displayed in our retail outlets, reading: Lntwistle's Tripe
Ior People oI Taste". That slogan did us quite a lot oI good.
Entwistles old No.3 stall on Ashton Market is still selling tripe.
The tripe dressing nrm oI Arnold's, in Arnold Street, Richard
Entwistles main competitor in the early years, was taken over
Tbc sczcnty

foot cbimncy of Hrno/d`s Tric Wor/s /cing dcmo/isbcd in I6:.

Hn Entuist/c adzcrtiscmcnt rintcd on a
tram tic/ct, circa I:;.
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH ,
by the UCP in 1920 and the premises were rebuilt. A former
employee, Harry SutcliBe, recalled:
Before the 1920s it was a very dirty job, but they modernized
it and lined the walls with white tiled bricks, which cost about
/6d each to lay.
At the beginning of the war production was transferred to the
UCP works at Rochdale. The Arnold Street works was used
again for a short time after the war but soon closed.
BRIGGS TRIPE WORKS
This old

established Manchester nrm is now owned by Peter

Briggs:
The nrm was Iounded in 8j8 by my great

grandfather, Absalom
Briggs, who brought his business over from Halifax by horse
and cart. He opened a shop opposite the Osborne Theatre on
Oldham Road, where he prepared and sold tripe. In course
of time, as the business extended, his son Fred found larger
premises in Viaduct Street, Beswick, from where he supplied
other shops, again by means of horse transport.
The present factory in Newton Heath was built in 1922, and
another shop, 47 Church Street, Newton Heath, was purchased.
Peters father, Leslie Briggs, was brought up with his brother and
sisters at this shop. When Leslie and his brother started working,
the hours were from 7.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m. Peter himself began
in the business in j, at the age oI ,, and at that time there
were ten employees; today there are just three.
Peters work entailed de

hairing the cowheels, scraping cows

bellies, collecting raw tripes Irom the \ater Street Abattoir (a
job he hated), general cleaning duties and delivering to shops,
in addition to keeping their own shop well supplied. The shop
was then run by Peters aunts, who were kept busy selling tripe,
cowheels, sheeps trotters, elder and neatsfoot oil.
Peter took over the running oI the nrm in the j6os, and
, TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
expanded into other lines, such as black puddings, which
they made themselves, roast chicken, pies and so on. A shop
in Bleckley village, which had been theirs originally, was kept
going by a crippled old lady. She hadnt been outside the door
for twenty years; her life was selling the odd quarter of tripe or
half a cowheel. When she died, Briggs took the shop over, but
barely three years later the building was demolished.
The j;os brought about other diversincations and a retrac
tion in the labour force. The inevitable decline in business made
it necessary to begin manufacturing other products. And the
reason for the decline? I believe it is the availability of so many
other fast foods, such as beefburgers and pizzas, and of course
the older generation of tripe eaters is dying out.
Peter doesn't nnd it easy to state his own preIerence among
tripe dishes. He likes it curried, fried with bacon, and in winter
the ubiquitous tripe and onions. But for all the fancy ways,
theres nothing to beat cold, fresh tripe, with plenty of salt and
vinegar, and a nice English tomato!
WORSICKS OF COLNE
This was a well

known Iamily, the nrm run by Harold \orsick

and his sister Elizabeth and a labourer, Paddy. Harolds widow,
Mrs Isabel \orsick (who was born in 8j6), described their
life:
Harold used to do the tripe dressing at our cooking place at
the bottom of Buck Street, near the Nags Head in Windy
Bank. Paddy lived across from the cooking place and worked
for Harold all his life. The Nags Head and all the houses have
been pulled down now.
Our goods originally came from the Argenta company
-
Harold liked their tripe
-
and then we bought from Leeds
abattoirs. The tripe, trotters and elder all had to be washed
and scrubbed, boiled and simmered until tender, and then put
into round, real oak tubs. I used to dress them, getting all the
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 67
CHAPTER FOUR
BOLTON

TROTTER TOWN
T
he Bo/ton Ezcning Ncus oI z April j, carried a short
article on the origin of the nickname of Bolton
Wanderers:
Trotter has nothing to do with an animal
-
it is the old

time
description oI the man Irom Trottertown" and Bolton
Trotters" were so named, it is said, aIter a hoax or trot" played
on a visitor.
An oil painting used to hang in the Bar Parlour of the Swan
Hotel showing a man with a wooden leg, which he held in a
bucket of hot water. The visitor had been drawn into a wager as
to who could hold a leg in the water the longest. Such practical
jokes were the essence of Bolton trotting. Bolton Wanderers
became, in local parlance, the Trotters". Some, however, preIer
to stick to the perhaps more logical explanation that it is derived
from the Boltonians liking for trotters and cowheels, and
-

\hat more suitable symbol than a sheep's Ioot Irom the tripe
shop:" So today in Bolton, edible trotters are sheep's Ieet. Some
(mostly Irom the South) think a trotter is a pig's Ioot, little
use to point out that a pigs progress little resembles the quick
movement of a sheep. But in this town of trotting, trotters
are trotters and pigs' Ieet are pigs' Ieet. This is connrmed by
Tum o' Lick o' Bob's" in his Lankisher Lickshionary" , by the
explanation that A trotter is a sheep's Ioot, boiled".'
In 1902 Charles Roeder published Notes on Food and Drink
in Lancashire and the Northern Counties in the Lancashire and
68 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
Cheshire Antiquarian Societys journal. In the article he quoted
Ben Brierley: Pig

killin' in Lancashire was a great Iamily aBair.

\e have the nottlins Iamiliar in Bolton, which was th' bally o'th'
pig beighlt into tripe".' Familiar it may have been, but I have
never heard the term nottlins used in Bolton.
Judging from the number of advertisers in local directories
from the nineteenth century onwards, there have certainly
been enough purveyors of tripe products in Bolton to satisfy
the towns working population.
One of the earliest references to tripe dealing in the town
is an advertisement which appeared in the Bo/ton Exrcss of 27
September 1823:
Peter Heron
-
Tripe Dealer, Top of Taylor Brow, Deansgate, Begs
to express his sincere acknowledgements for the very liberal
Support he has received from his Friends and the Public in
general since his commencing the above Business, and assures
his customers that no attention shall be wanting on his part to
maintain the high name his TRIPE has acquired for its prime
and superior qualities.
Peter Heron takes this opportunity to inform his Friends,
that he can supply them with TRIPE, HEELS, &c as usual, at
his Shop every Friday, and Sunday Evenings at 7 oclock.
NB. Calves Heads prepared for Mock Turtle.
Tbc Bo/ton Dircctory for 1836 records Robert Haslam, Leather
and Tripe Lealer.' (This directory also lists a certain Ciles Vose,
Blacksmith
-
perhaps a relative oI the 'Tripe Voses':) The
directories for 1841, 1843 and 1849 give more names, three or four
at most, and there is some evidence to suggest that tripe dressers
may have preferred to be designated under other trades, such
as butcher, provision dealer or even waste dealer. For example,
the 1843 directory cites Robert & Peter Haslam, Leather and
Neats

foot oil dealers, with no mention of tripe at all; in 1849

they are listed under Tripe Dressers. Again, in the 1843 directory
there is a Thomas Lever, butcher, oI Moor Lane, in 8, he is
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 69
classed as a tripe dresser. Six other tripe dressers are recorded in
Bolton in 8,: Admund Barlow oI Shipgates, \illiam Fletcher
of Folds Road, William Haslam of Deansgate, Robert Monks of
Hulme Street, Lllis RatcliBe oI Bradshawgate and Henry \aters
of Lum Street.
From the 1870s there was a marked increase in the number
of tripe dressers and dealers; by the turn of the century there
were more than ,o, some with several shops or market stalls. By
the year 1911 there were over 70 names listed in the local trade
directory.
Inevitably, there were some failures, and one such was
reported in the Bolton Journal of 21 March 1902. Under the
heading A Tripe Dealers Failure, it was related thus:
A meeting of the creditors of Joseph Nuttall, 67, Great Moor
Street, tripe dealer, was held on \ednesday at the oBce oI the
OBcial Receiver, Mr T. H. \inder, Lxchange Street.
The debtors statement of affairs showed liabilities
amounting to z;8 and assets ;o, leaving a deIiciency oI
o;. The causes oI Iailure were alleged by the debtor to be
trade losses, loss by death of a horse and loss by accident. In his
observation oI the case the OBcial Receiver said the bankrupt
was a tripe dresser by trade, and Ior the last nve years he had
also been a retail tripe dealer. In April 1900 he became tenant
of a tripe dressing works in Back Spring Gardens, Bolton. The
working utensils there belonged to the landlord. The business
was conducted at a loss, and the bankrupt became unable to
pay his accounts.
Joseph Nuttall had been in the tripe business since at least
1871, when he worked for his father, Henry, at 121 Deansgate. He
was then aged ,, and was already designated a tripe dresser. Ten
years earlier the shop had been run by Peter Higson, another
tripe dresser. Higson was in business at 86 Spring Gardens in 1871
and around 8j/, he moved to St Helens Road, Over Hulton,
probably to retire.
70 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
Josephs progress was evidently not as fortunate. After the
death of his father, his mother Elizabeth took over the business
in the early 88os. In 8j6 ]oseph had a shop at , Leansgate
and by 1902 he was residing at 220 Derby Street and renting the
ill

fated tripe works in Back Spring Gardens. His sister Mary was
running the Deansgate shop.
Perhaps Joseph rented the tripe works from his more
successful predecessor, Peter Higson, and it was Higson who
instituted the bankruptcy proceedings.
So the tripe business, like any other, had its pitfalls and not
everyone made a fortune from the trade. Certainly, there were
easier ways of making a living!
\nder the Public Health Act oI 8;,, anyone wishing to
pursue the 'oBensive trade' oI tripe boiling in Bolton had to have
the permission oI Bolton Corporation. By 8j, the Corporation
Sanitary Committee were of the opinion that there were enough
tripe boilers in the town, which was unfortunate for Great and
Little Bolton Co

operative Society Ltd. In the February of that

year the Inspector of Nuisances, Mr Spencer, visited the Co

op
slaughterhouses in All Saints Street and found that tripe was
being boiled. A charge was brought against the Society at a
meeting of Bolton Justices in the April.
An advertisement
from I8.
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 71
The Society evidently considered that it was worth defending
the charge, and a Mr Fielding appeared before the magistrates
on its behalf. His argument was that there was, in fact, no case
to answer:
inasmuch as they did not carry on the trade of tripe boiling.
They simply bought cows alive, slaughtered them and, to
prevent waste, converted the oBal into tripe. They were merely
butchers, and the boiling of bellies was incidental to the business
of a butcher. True, the Co

operative Society had applied for a

licence for tripe boiling; but by having such a licence they
could buy bellies from whom they wished and convert them
into tripe. The Corporation in their wisdom
-
and he never saw
a more intelligent lot of men in his life
-
said, \e will not allow
them to carry on tripe boiling", and thereIore the Co

operative
Society were prevented from treating with other butchers for
the purchase of their bellies.
The dennition oI trade was buying and selling, and only
utilizing the bellies of their own cows did not constitute
buying. They simply boiled what was their own, and they did not
buy the bellies for the purpose of making tripe. If a conviction
took place. they would have to throw the oBal away, and this
would be a monstrous and iniquitous waste.
The magistrates were not convinced by Mr Fieldings argument
and they decided in Iavour oI the Corporation, nning the Co

op
ten shillings (,op) and costs.
Having failed to set up their own tripe manufactory, the
Coop lost no time in nnding an existing business to take over.
By June 1896 they were renting, at 10 shillings per week, a tripe
boiling works at 4 Back Derby Street; the working plant was
purchased from the previous tenant, George Cain. From 6 July
tripe and cowheels were being boiled and oBered Ior sale in the
Societys shops unapproachable for quality and freshness.
In 1901 the owner of the tripe works, Robert Hilton, sold out
and it became the property of the Co

op. There was a complete

72 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
plant Ior tripe boiling and also tallow reIining (nothing was
wasted!), consisting oI vertical boiler, tripe pans and tallow vats.
Just when this tripe works closed is uncertain, but Bolton Co

op hasnt done any tripe boiling since before the War, although
several Co

operative Societies in the north were members of the

ational Association oI Tripe Lressers until the late j,os.
SOME BOLTON TRIPE FAMILIES
VOSES
The name Vose was once a household word for miles around.
From modest beginnings the familys tripe business expanded
to such an extent that by the time it was taken over by the UCP
there was a tripe works and more than a dozen retail outlets
throughout the district.
The Vose (or Vause) Iamily came originally Irom the Horwich
and Chorley areas, where they had been involved in the cotton
trade. ]ames and Helen Vause had several oBspring, oI whom
Thomas (born 8), Llizabeth and Robert (born at Blackrod
in 8 and 8zo) and ]ohn (born at Chorley, 8z8) are relevant
to this story.
Some time in the 1830s the family moved to Bolton, where
James started up as a coal merchant; his son Robert was a farrier
and John was a dyer by trade,
Around this time there lived in Rawsons Court a waste dealer
named ]onathan RatcliBe. His son Lllis married Llizabeth Vose
in August 8;. Lllis, like his Iather, dealt in 'waste', and by 8,,
when he was living in Bradshawgate, his trade was classed as
tripe dressing. Two years later Robert Vose, blacksmith, married
Elizabeth Seddon.
In 86 the RatcliBes resided at Churchgate, with business
premises on Bradshawgate. Four years later Robert Vose was
recorded at both these addresses and the 8; census connrms
that the entire Vose family and their servants were living at the
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 73
Tbc cxtcrior of tbc UCP

Vosc`s rcstaurant in Bradsbaugatc, Bo/ton. Tbc intcriors

of tbc ground and rst oors arc sboun ozcr/caf.
74 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
Tbc rst

oor dining

room at tbc UCP

Vosc`s rcstaurant in Bradsbaugatc,

Bolton.
Tbc ground

oor cafc at tbc UCP

Vosc`s rcstaurant in Bradsbaugatc, Bo/ton.

TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 83
and I believe in Oldham they called it slutch"
-
it was dark,
coloured and wrinkled. I remember my sister once said, Oh, y'
know Mrs So

an

So: \ell, 'er Iace 'as gone just like maniIold!"

My husband loved tripe and trotters but he didnt like
cowheel. I loved it, but he wouldnt have it! My daughter also
liked cowheel, so I used to cook steak and cowheel. My husband
would cut a piece oB and eat it raw, but he wouldn't have it
cooked!
At one time the Halliwell family who had the Wheatsheaf
shop |Vose's, ewport Street] lived on the premises down at
the works on Silverwell Lane. This was when they had horses,
and Mr Halliwell was the horseman. \hen the nrm did away
with the horses and went on motors, the house was turned
into oBces. AIter Mrs Halliwell died, her daughter kept the
Wheatsheaf shop on for a time.
Mr Haslam recalls living with his parents over the tripe shop
on Newport Street for about six years until he was ten. Earlier,
his mother had worked for a tripe shop in Tyldesley.
Mother became Manageress of the Bradshawgate caf and then
the Newport Street shop about 1946
-
7. Steak and cowheel was a
favourite dish with the patrons. Then there was the thick seam
tripe, which was the Iace" piece
-
smooth, with plenty of fat;
white honeycomb, wi' salt an' vinegar in every 'ole", sheep's
trotters done in milk, and pigs feet, which were brown and
would be eaten with Beetop sauce. Neatsfoot oil was purchased,
too; some would rub it on their chests if they had a cold.
Mr Haslam himself served in the shop when he was eight
years old. He recalls that orders for the following day were
written out on six

by four

inch tickets and taken to the works

in the evening. The tripe was stored in ice and water in big
porcelain vats until required.
I remember UCP shops in Blackpool, facing the North Pier,
and in Farnworth, near Longcauseway. I think the Bradshawgate
84 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
caf was the last to close in Bolton. A great saying of Mothers
was: Keep to the \CP motto
-
never go into t kitchen empty

handed!"
Mr Hanson remembers how, as a young plasterer, he helped
to put the mosaic under Voses shop window on Churchgate
corner; the background was white and the name was in black
mosaic. He used to watch the tripe dressing on Bradshawgate
and also recalls Charlie Smiths works.
You could get tripe suppers for 9d or 10d, with tripe and onions,
steak pudding and chips and so on. People used to go round the
pubs with tripe on sticks, the cry was Put plenty aliker |i.e.
alegar, ale vinegar] on!" Then there was

rabbit pie or tripe in

milk, with a parsley sauce.
On St Helens Road, at the bottom of Blackledge Street,
there was a row of little low houses, and the second from the
end was a tripe shop. Mrs Boardman was a typical red

faced
Lancashire woman who sold black or rag" tripe. (ManiIold was
its proper name, but people used to call it rag tripe because it
resembled a piece oI old dishcloth.) Her husband ]ack was a
knocker

up, he charged d (z.,p) a week.

TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 8,
The UCP used to do funeral and wedding teas; there were
a lot oI Iunerals in the jzos. Folk would set the coBn in the
window so that people passing could look in at the corpse. It
was quite a boast at one time
-
\e kept 'er Ior a week!" There
was also a special hearse for mother and child, in the days when
women often died in childbirth. Incidentally, there was also a
special Iuneral cake"
-
a large slab

cake which was sold by the

Maypole dairy on St Helens Road.
Children used to play at ]acks and Bobbers" or Pea

knuckle" with bones they got Irom trotters and pigs' Ieet.
In j,, at the age oI ;, Bill Lavies went to work Ior the \CP
at their works behind Bradshawgate. The nrst oI his many jobs
was to prepare cowheels and his wage was

7s
-
od (.,).
Everyone was issued with clogs and bibbed overalls, but they
made their own aprons out of sacking. Twice a week Bill had to
Hn adzcrtiscmcnt from I8:.
86 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
take two bags of clogs down to Rogans clog shop or Churchbank
for mending. All drivers were inspected before going out on
deliveries
-
they had to be smart and tidy in appearance.
When raw tripes were brought from the slaughterhouses,
together with Iour cowheels to each tripe (a 'set' oI tripe) they
were nrst hung on hooks. Then they were cut down, washed and
given a preliminary cooking to help get the skin of by scraping.
The tripes were then cooked properly. The older the animal was,
the longer it took to cook, and an experienced cook was able
to tell how old an animal was just by picking up the seam. Then
they were placed in boilers for bleaching, after which they were
put into iced water. When Bill worked on the night shift his last
job was to lift the tripes out of the water, ready for delivering
to the shops.
The night shift lasted from 6.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m.; day
shifts started at 6.00 a.m. and continued until the days work
was completed, which might be four or five oclock in the
aIternoon (hardly ever later than nve) and then they worked on
Saturday morning as well. Everything had to be scrubbed down
thoroughly beIore going oB the shiIt, the Boors included, right
down the back street outside the works and on to Bradshawgate
itself.
Soon after I started work, about the year 1936, we held a cricket
match on Bradshawgate. The night shift used to have their
supper on top of the boiler, and some nights there would also
be a Corporation gang working on the tramlines. They would
have a vehicle ntted with arc lights, and on one particular night
they threw out a challenge to the UCP men. We stood tripe
boxes on the tramlines for wickets and play began. Our only
spectator was a policeman on night beat.
Bill Lavies was among the nrst to be called

up in 1939
-

into the Militia, the Hore Belisha men. Three months later
war was declared and he was in the army for the duration. The
first Christmas he was in the Forces, his wife was sent one
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 93
CHAPTER FIVE
TRIPE

PAST, PRESENT AND

FUTURE
I
n the j,os the towns and cities oI the industrial north were
still served by individuals in small shops, though many of
these shops were owned by, or bought their products from,
the larger combines. Ten years on, however, these places were
closing down at a rapid rate, or else changing over to other lines.
(One Bolton shop was transIormed into a 'Loggy Beauty Salon'.)
Modern cafs and restaurants were still being opened well into
the 1960s, but most of the retail trade was by then being carried
on through market stalls or butchers shops.
One of the last of the little shops is the Tripe Shop on
Melbourne Street, Stalybridge, run by Mrs Marion Wilde, who
buys her products from Parry Scragg Ltd. The prestigious UCP
restaurants have also closed, the premises being given over to
products unconnected with tripe.
What have we gained or lost by these changes? And how has
the trade benentted, iI at all:
The gain has been in greater eBciency. Because oI cent
ralized control, businesses are more cost

eBective, especially
from the point of view of administration. With the advent of
refrigerated vans and motorways, goods are delivered much
Iarther aneld. Better marketing is also possible, although the
modern techniques available are not always fully exploited.
On the debit side, we have lost a lot of individuality. The
larger combines cannot oBer the same kind oI personal service
94 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
as formerly given. Older people preferred the little shops which
were, in the words of one devotee, Very friendly places, warm
and homely. The trade then was more of a public service than
a business.
Shop closures were bound to aBect custom to a large extent.
Folk went to the tripe shop specincally to buy tripe or other oBal
products, whereas today, Youre lucky if you see any at all! Other
than on town

centre market stalls, some few pieces of tripe

might be found languishing on a tray in a butchers window, in
direct competition with a host of other meats on display there.
H Sccond Wor/d
War adzcrtisc
mcnt from UCP.
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 97
CHAPTER SIX
TRIPE RECIPES
TRADITIONAL
T
ripe can produce any number of tasty dishes to suit any
time of the year, but it is especially popular during the
summer months. Cold tripe seasoned with salt, pepper
and vinegar and served with salad is a delicious and ideal food.
However, tripe is in season all the year round, and as reliable and
desirable in January as in August.
To keep tripe at its best, place it in fresh cold water in a
cool place. DONT allow it to dry out. Run cold water over it
before use.
The following are the most generally prepared recipes here
in the north oI Lngland. (All are Ior
-
4 persons, unless stated
otherwise.)
98 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
TRIPE AND ONIONS
Here are three variations on a theme, from Lancashire, Yorkshire
and Wales.
LANCASHIRE
: Sanisb onions '/, int mi//
I '/, // rc

coo/cd tric scasoning

I oz our incb nutmcg
I oz /uttcr toast
Peel the onions and stew them with the tripe, just covered with
water, until tender.
Drain, reserving half the pourings. Cut the tripe into pieces;
chop the onions.
Melt the butter in a heat

prooI dish and mix in the Bour,

slowly add the tripe and onion pourings.
Stir until boiling, add the milk, seasoning, tripe and onions,
and simmer Ior o to , minutes.
Serve with toast. For four people.
YORKSHIRE
: // drcsscd tric I oz /uttcr
I // s/iccd onions I oz our
sa/t and ccr : t/s gratcd cbccsc
'/, int cacb mi// c uatcr
Cut the tripe into bite

sized pieces and put into a saucepan with

the onions, milk and water; season to taste.
Bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently for an hour, or
until the tripe is tender.
Mix the butter and Bour together, and when all the Bour is
absorbed break into small pieces and put into the tripe, stirring
all the time until the liquid thickens.
Transfer to an ovenproof dish, sprinkle grated cheese over
the top and brown, either in the oven or under a hot grill.
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 99
WALES
I // tric I oz /uttcr
1 medium

sizcd onion I '/, ints mi// c uatcr

I oz our sa/t and ccr
Cut the prepared tripe into 2

inch squares, skin and dice the

onion; season to taste.
Simmer the tripe and onion in the milk and water for 1 hour,
until the tripe is tender.
Melt the butter in another saucepan and work in the Bour,
stir in a little stock Irom the tripe. Return the Bour mixture to
the main saucepan. Stir well and bring back to the boil.
Cook gently for 2
-
3 minutes. Serve hot with boiled Gower
potatoes and creamed button mushrooms. Serves 3
-
4.
Here are some more popular northern dishes.
STUFFED TRIPE
A large piece of tripe is filled with a mixture composed of
breadcrumbs, chopped bacon, chopped onion, some sage and
seasoning. The edges are well secured, then the whole is placed
into a greased baking tin and covered by strips of bacon. This is
then cooked in the oven for about an hour.
HUDDERSFIELD TRIPE
Tripe is thinly sliced and covered with sliced onions which have
been marinated in vinegar, salt and pepper. This is eaten as it is,
without cooking.
100 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
TRIPE PLOT
A nourishing invalid dish.
'/, // rc

coo/cd tric I cgg (/catcn u

'/, tcacu mi// ars/cy toast (otiona/
pepper and salt
Cut the tripe into very small pieces and place in a casserole
dish.
Add the milk and season to taste. Simmer Ior , minutes.
Transfer the tripe into a warm dish. Add the beaten egg to
the liquor in the casserole, then stir over a low heat until the
sauce thickens. (B: Lo not allow the heat to reach boiling
point.)
Pour the sauce over the tripe, garnish with parsley and serve,
with toast if required.
As well as tripe, we have, of course, a fondness for cowheel here
in the north, and as a Boltonian I must not omit trotters. So here
are some recipes using these products.
COWHEEL BRAWN
I coubcc/ cbocd coo/cd /acon (a/out : oz
1 onion pepper, salt
Wash the cowheel and stew very slowly, preferably overnight,
with the onion.
Take out the bones and chop the meat very nnely.
Add the cooked, chopped bacon and salt and pepper to
taste.
Pack it into a pudding basin, with a saucer on top to weight
it, if necessary.
When cold and set it may be sliced up thinly and served with
mustard, or mixed pickles and bread and butter.
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 101
COWHEEL STEW
I coubcc/ I ts zincgar
I /argc onion I oz /uttcr
I /ouquct garni : t/s cornour
I /ay/caf ccr c sa/t to tastc
mustard (otiona/ ars/cy (otiona/
Scald, clean and split the heel, put into a large saucepan, with
the onion, bouquet garni, bayleaf and vinegar.
Bring almost to the boil, then let simmer gently for 4 hours.
Empty the contents into a basin, put the saucepan back on
the heat and melt the butter in it, adding next the Bour and
seasoning. Next blend in the cowheel gravy and leave to cook
for some minutes.
Meanwhile, bone the cow heel and cut up the meat into neat
pieces; slice the cooked onion and add to the meat.
Pour the sauce over the meat mixture, serve with mashed
potatoes and garnish with parsley. Mustard may be served with
the dish, if liked.
BATTERED TROTTERS
sbcc`s trottcrs ; or cc/cry sta//s
1 onion pepper, salt, water
'/, // carrots /attcr
Stew the trotters very slowly (it can take all day!) in enough
water to cover.
Meantime, make a fairly thick batter and leave to stand until
required.
Take the trotters from heat and bone them. Dip into the
batter (thinned down with juice Irom trotter boiling, a Iew
spoonIuls is enough).
Fry the battered trotters. Boil down the trotter juice and
serve as a gravy with the cooked meat and vegetables.
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 131
LANCASHIRE TRIPE DRESSERS AND
DEALERS, 1924
The original directory listing was arranged alphabetically by name. We
have sorted this long list by location. In a number of cases, a satellite
town, for example Padiham, is listed discretely as well as under the main
centre. Cross references have been inserted. There are several larger
concerns with branches in more than one town. These are listed at the
end, but each branch has also been entered in its proper location.
Accrington
BAILS C, , \halley Road, Accrington
BRALSHA\ ] R, ,, Plantation St, Accrington
BULLCOCK Mrs E, 76 Blackburn Rd, Accrington
HARCRLAVLS \, z8, Blackburn Rd, Accrington
HARRISON Miss A, 33 Burnley Rd, Accrington
HEATH T, 6 Elephant Street, Accrington
IRELAND Miss A, 48 Richmond St, Accrington
QUINN J W, 133b Blackburn Road, Accrington
RATCLIFFE G, Argyle St, Accrington
SHUTT M & Mrs E, 70 Abbey St, Accrington
SINGLETON George, 81 Nuttall St, Accrington
SMITHIES W & A, Argyle Street, Accrington
SOUTHWORTH R, Croft St; 3 Cross St & 111 Abbey Street, Accring ton
STURGESS W H, 1 Bold Street, Accrington
WALKER R, Argyle Street, Accrington
\ALSH \ R, Argyle St & z, Levonshire St, Accrington
YOUNG W, 3 Eagle St, Accrington
Alderley Edge
GLEAVE Mrs M, Heyes Lane, Alderley Edge
Altrincham
ASHTON Charles, 1 Peter Street, Altrincham
FRANCIS G, 171 Manchester Rd, Broadheath, Altrincham
HOWARD Mrs S, 40 George St, Altrincham
HULME R H, 16 Railway Street, Altrincham
132 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
Ardwick, see also Manchester
CA\LLY Frances, 8,b Manchester Rd, Ardwick
LYSO \atson (Branch oI \CP), o & 66o Stockport Rd, Ardwick
HILL ] S (wholesale) (branch oI \CP Ltd), ;8o Ashton Old Rd, 6j
Chancery La and , & ,, Brunswick St, Ardwick
JEPSON Edgar, 113 Ashton Old Road, Ardwick
PENDLEBURY J R, 319 Hyde Rd, Ardwick
Ashton

on

Mersey
GOUGH Mrs L, 33 Cross St, Ashton

on

Mersey
OHARA E, 91 Cross St, Ashton

on

Mersey
SMITH Jane, 111 Cross St, Ashton

on

Mersey
Ashton

under

Lyne
ARNOLD & HOUGH Ltd, Arnold St; 126 Cavendish St; 100, 101 Market
Hall, zoa & z8;d StamIord St, Katherine St, ,z & z86 Stockport
Rd; 31 Warrington St & 76 Stamford Sq, Ashton

Lyne
BARNES J, 763 Oldham Rd, Bardsley, A

L
BERTENSHAW J, 261 Queen St, Hurst, A

L
BRLLB\RY ]ohn Ltd, 8, Oldham Rd & 6; StamIord Street, A

L
DAVIES John, 203 Curzon Rd, Hurst, A

L
ENTWISTLE R, 49 Wellington Rd; 107 Warrington St & 103 Market
Hall, Ashton

Lyne
HALLIWELL G, 26 Booth St, Ashton

under

Lyne
HUGHES J, 30 Henrietta St, Ashton

Lyne
HULME J jun, 262 Katherine St, Ashton

L
NADEN C, 99 Stockport Rd, Ashton

under

Lyne
NICHOLLS J, 16 Chester Sq, Ashton

Lyne
OLDHAM T, 77a Stockport Rd, Ashton

Lyne
RIDGWAY A, 48 Victoria St, Ashton

Lyne
TAYLOR E, 179 Katherine St, Ashton

Lyne
THOMPSON M A, 3 Oldham Rd, Ashton

Lyne
TURNER R, 120 Hillgate St, Hurst Pk, A

L.
WILLIAMSON H, 122 Oldham Rd, Waterloo, A

L
Atherton
KAY Ralph & Sons, 13 Church St & 89 Market St, Atherton
ROSCOW E, 83 Tyldesley Rd, Atherton
Bacup
BRILCLS Thos, ,, Rochdale Rd, Bacup
LLOYL Mrs, ,a Market Street, Bacup
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 133
Barrow

in

Furness
BARRO\ MASTLR B\TCHLRS' ASSOCIATIO, ,8 Cavendish
St & 109 Dalton Rd, Barrow
SHACKLETON M, 127 Dalton Rd, Barrow

in

Fss
Baxenden
SOWERBUTTS H, 463 Manchester Road, Baxenden
Besses Oth Barn
BRIGGS B, 128 Bury Old Rd, Besses othBarn
Birkenhead
MITTY ] Ltd, ,6 & j Crange Rd & Conway St, Birkenhead
Blackburn
ABBOTT Richard, 90 King Street, Blackburn
AIS\ORTH ]ohn, , Bolton Road, Blackburn
ALMOND Wm Ltd, j works, George St W, Blackburn
ALMOND William, 28 New Bank Road, Blackburn
BAINES Mrs Alice Ann, 117 Darwen St, Blackburn
BAINES Robert S, 26 New Market St, Blackburn
BARNARD G, 106 Whalley Range, Blackburn
BAXENDALE James, Pump Street, Blackburn
BENTLEY Miss A, 13 Furthergate, Blackburn
BRADLEY H, 134 Darwen St, Blackburn
BROOKS Mrs Ann Ellen, Whalley Banks, Blackburn
BROW Wm, 31 Charnley St, Mill Hill, Blackburn
BYRNE R Ltd, Prospect House, Albert St, Mill Hill & Ainsworth
Street, Blackburn
CLLMISO S, , CriBn St, \itton, Blackburn
COPPOCK W, 66 Montague Street, Blackburn
LOBSO ] H, ,8 Queen St, Ct Harwood, Blackburn
DUXBURY John, 310 Bolton Rd, Blackburn
EASTHAM T, 88 Scotland Rd, Blackburn
FOSTLR T \, , Blackburn Rd, Ct Harwood, Blackburn
GALLAGHER J, 6 Hermitage St, Rishton, Blackburn
CRIMSHA\ \, ,j \halley ew Road, Blackburn
HACKING E, 102 Audley Range, Blackburn
HACKING Mrs R, 8 Whalley Old Rd, Blackburn
HAMMOND Mrs M, 62 Furthergate, Blackburn
HAWORTH Mrs E, 198 Audley Range, Blackburn
HAYES M, 21 New Chapel St, Mill Hill, Bbrn
TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH 161
ELDER: A GOOD UDDER TO
DINNER
E
lder is a form of tripe; more precisely, boiled cows udder.
The term appears to be Middle Dutch, and was probably
first recorded in Rays Nortb Country Words (6;). It
was used in the north and north

west of Britain, appearing in

Scotland and Ireland, down the north

west side of England from

Lancashire almost as far as the Severn estuary, and stretched
inland diagonally across to Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. It is still
used in parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire. In virtually every case,
the term refers to the udder of a cow or horse, occasionally even
that of a woman
-
but, I am informed, only women in the lowest
sections of society.
1
Not surprisingly, little is known of its history. Though udder
appears to be nrst mentioned as a Iood in ; (OED), its nnest
hour, I suppose, came on 11 October 1660, when Samuel Pepys
in the company of his wife and Mr Creed, dining at the Leg in
King Street, thought suBciently oI their 'good udder to dinner'
to record it in his diary. That at least assured a place for it in
posterity and the OED and the Encyc/ocdia of Gastronomy.
Since then, for the most part, its been downhill all the
way. Though La Varenne (6,) and Charles Carter (;o), Ior
example, give recipes, and Hannah Classe (;;) recommends
both a roast and forced udder, udder is more often conspicuous
by its absence. Kettner, writing in 1877, notes that udder is
no longer abundant in the market though it formerly had a
recognized position in French cookery. Cassells Dictionary of
162 TRIPE: A MOST EXCELLENT DISH
Cookery (8jj) gives it, but oI more recent authors I have been
able to consult, only LscoBer and Prosper Montagne seem to
include an entry of any note

connrming, perhaps, French aBec

tion over English apathy.
Long gone from the daily diet of most of us, udder is thus
a vanishing food which no one particularly wants any more
and which has escaped the interest of everyone, except these
days the odd environmental health oBcer.
2
In all probability,
therefore, we are witnessing a food in terminal decline. Newly
introduced EEC regulations governing the handling of elder at
the slaughterhouse, making it more economic and less trouble
for the abattoir to sell elder to the pet food market than for
human consumption, are helping to speed its general demise.
3

To the best of my knowledge it survives almost exclusively
in a small cluster of towns in industrial West Yorkshire
-

Keighley, BradIord (where, by the way, it's called udder), HaliIax,
Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Wakefield and Castleford, and in
East Lancashire, especially in the market halls of places like
Accrington, Wigan, Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Bacup, Preston
and RadcliBe on the outskirts oI Manchester. I don't think, Ior
example, you will nnd it in Leeds
4
(though you will nnd maws,
or pig's tripe) or Barnsley, or on the Iar west side oI Lancashire.
Liverpudlians, apparently, wont touch the stuff. I myself
discovered it whilst wandering around Halifax market one day;
many northern markets are often the last bastions of genuine
traditional foods
-
the ones our working forefathers really ate, as
opposed to those which Bow Irom the pens oI hard

pressed food
writers or tourist boards desperate to nnd something other than
roast beef and Yorkshire pudding to put in their brochures. That
in turn led to a visit to a small tripery in Denholme, a craggy
Pennine hill village above Bingley and Bradford.
The tripery is run by a father

and

son team with two staB,

though, at 6j, the Iather is now oBcially retired. The Iamily
have been tripe dressers Ior nve generations and, like most tripe
dressers, have their own retail outlets, in their case a stall in