Fish and Chips and London Cockney Sparrows
There aren’t many people you could invite for supper and get away
with giving them nothing but a plate of fish and chips from the local chippie – but
Claire Rayner might just be one of them.
“A glorious plate of
fish and chips from the Sea Shell restaurant in Lisson Grove” is what she
nominates as her icon. “It’s just not the same any more without the
smell of vinegar-soaked newspaper” she adds “but it’s OK off a plate.”
A
Londoner through and through, Claire also nominates the unassuming
sparrow as an icon. “London Cockney sparrows. The noise they made in
Leicester Square, in such huge numbers, and they are very hard to find
these days. They used to come right up to you and eat right out of your
hand and they are all gone now.”
She says of the ICONS project
“It’s a lovely idea. I think it’s wonderful. There are many people over
60 now going online and using the Internet.”
Read more about and vote on fish and chips.
images © Joanne O'Brien
Claire Rayner
Agony aunt, broadcaster, campaigner, writer and novelist
Patron of dozens of social and charitable organisations, health campaigner, writer and agony aunt extraordinaire, Claire Rayner has been personal advisor to the nation since the 1960s. Having listened to our problems for so long, in 2003 she talked about her own harrowing childhood in her autobiography, ‘How Did I Get Here From There?'.
