George-a-Green Fisheries: The old-fashioned fish and chip shop without social media going viral on YouTube

George–a-Green Fisheries in Lupset is located on George a Green Road, between Horbury Road and Dewsbury Road in the heart of the residential area.

Despite the urban aesthetic, the frontage of this traditional chip shop is prettily laid out with black planters and a small seating area complete with picnic benches. .

When the current owner, Damien Schofield, took over two decades ago, he refurbished the beloved fish and chip shop in the art deco style of its formative years.

The frontage is painted white with black writing.

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Despite not having their own social media channels, George-a-Green Fisheries is regularly dubbed the “best fish and chips” by online reviewers. Not to mention the fact that they come up top on many of the fish and chips fan groups.

We sent our reporter Sophie Mei Lan to try out this traditional Yorkshire chippy.

George-a-Green Fisheries has been on my radar for a long time. Initially I spotted it on the nursery run in Lupset but I couldn’t ignore it due to the constant reminders from people online posting about them, regularly referring to George-a-Green's as the “best” chippy.

Youtuber Gary Eats - who previously snubbed Rick Stein’s pricey fish and chips as being an “absolute rip off” - likened this chippy to a much more expensive portion of fish and chips he’d had from Heston Blumenthal.

For £9.50, you can grab a portion of fish and chips. There's no “small fish,” but you can have fewer chips. The fish cakes are also huge.

Gary applauded George-a-Greens for the “beautiful colour” of the food as well as eating the “best mushy peas” he has ever had on his channel.

While young people may not be used to the golden colour of fish and chips cooked in beef dripping, my friend tells me, they are “like the good old days, full of flavour.”

Most people rave online about how the batter is crispy, soft inside, and full of flavour.

I get chatting to the friendly, down-to-earth staff. Taras Schofield is brother of Damien who owns the chippy.

He said: “We don't do social media. We just offer fish, chips, scraps, and fish butties. We’re traditional.”

Gary Eats himself had travelled almost 200 miles to taste a Haddock and Chips with scraps, mushy peas, and a fish cake.

Whatever the day and weather, people queue to grab these traditionally cooked fish and chips, with fish cake butties selling out most days. On Fridays, there is around a 40-minute wait, the staff said.

While business is booming with customers coming from as far away as Texas and Australia, the reality of making much of a profit is “hard” with rising prices.

“We try to keep costs down for our customers, but it’s hard nowadays with the price of fish almost doubling,” said Taras.

George–a–Green Road is named after George-a-Green, the Pinder, or ‘pound keeper,’ a fictional character from Robin Hood who hails from Wakefield.

It seems that this side street has more than one link to a legend if this long-standing chippy is anything to go by.