Press / Awards ~ Famous for Fish & Chips Since 1920 ~ Marton, Blackpool, Lancashire, UK

Illuminations switch on Party 2009

Blackpool is famous for many things… donkeys, fun fairs, dancing (to name just a few) and perhaps the most famous of all are its illuminations which stretch over 10kms along the sea front and attract an average 10,000,000 visitors per year.

The switching on of the lights (unbelievably over a million light bulbs) has become an event in itself and this year it was Alan Carr who pressed the button at 9pm on Friday 4th September.

Alan has an affinity with Blackpool or as he calls it the Las Vegas

of the North. His father was in fact the manager of Blackpool Football Club! After flicking the switch on the lights Alan was also hosting an ‘after show’ party and needed a fix of his favourite food… Fish & Chips!

Jason & Liz Horsley were honoured to be asked to supply the fish and chips to Alan and his 500 guests at the Tower Ballroom including The Lord Mayor of Blackpool, Ricky Hatton, Kate Thornton, Laurence Llewellyn Bowen, Tony Christie, JLS, Joey Blower to name but a few.

The guests were served with fresh, hand filleted, best Scotch Rockall haddock fried on their new Florigo frying range and hand delivered with a police escort to the ballroom.

‘We could not have done this on our old range’ said Jason, ‘we cooked 1064 fillets of haddock and each and everyone was a consistent, top quality product. Florigo are, in my opinion, the Rolls Royce of ranges and was worth every penny.’

All of the guests enjoyed the fish and chips so much so that many came back for a second helping – ‘they were beautiful fish and chips’ said Alan Carr and Ricky Hatton said ‘he absolutely loved them’

The Cottage has always been renowned for its fish and chips but since taking over in September 2007 Jason and Liz have raised the bar even higher, recently achieving a 5 star rating from Seafish to add to their many awards and achievements.

The Cottage features in Rick Steins 'Seafood Lovers Guide' as the best fish & chips in Blackpool. The Restaurant walls are covered in pictures of celebrities who have enjoyed their fish & chips which are cooked to perfection every time. Stars such as Freddie Flintoff, Lenny Henry, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Bobby Ball, Bernie Clifton, Sherrie Hewson, Ruth Maddoc, John Rhino Edwards, Status Quo, The Blow Monkeys, Steve Davis and even John Major to name but a few! You never know who maybe sitting on the next table to you !

Archbishop's 'world class' Blackpool fish supper

NO trip to Blackpool is complete without fish and chips – even if you're the Archbishop of Canterbury!

So like millions of visitors before him, Dr Rowan Williams rounded off his

tour of the resort with a catch-of-the-day – served up at The Cottage chippy in Marton.

And afterwards he declared his fish and chips "world class".

Over the years The Cottage has played host to scores of celebrities and even a former Prime Minister, but owner Liz Horsley said it was the first time they had served lunch to an archbishop.

She added: "Last week he was at Windsor Castle dining with the Queen and this week he is at The Cottage chippy, so it's quite a coup for Blackpool!

"My husband is a fishmonger from Fleetwood so the archbishop has had best halibut. His visit here was arranged by Canon Diane Parker, who has been a regular customer here for over 40 years

Fish fryers quality award

This shop has achieved five stars in the Fish Friers Quality Award.
This is the highest possible accolade from Seafish, the authority on seafood

It means that we exceed the standards set by the Fish Friers Quality Award for our product quality, taste, hygiene, food preparation
practices and customer service.

To gain this award, we regularly undergo more than
240 checks and tests by experts from Seafish.

Our standards are regularly checked by experts from Seafish, which means that you can enjoy first class fish and chips from this shop.

To find out more, go to www.seafish.org/fqa