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Whatever happened to winkles?

I was lying in bed this morning, thinking it was time I wasn't lying in bed when another thought struck me.
Two lots of thinking.......coo ......and so early.
Well, the one that struck me was :
Whatever happened to winkles?

When I was a kid growing up in London, my dad would have half a pint of winkles with bread and butter for his tea most Sundays.
There was a "winkle man" who came around the streets.

I used to watch my dad eat the winkles. It fascinated me. He had a needle that he used to remove the little cover they had. I used to call them their "hats".
Then he would twiddle or "winkle" them out.
Sometimes he would put them on his bread and butter and make a sandwich.
He used to try to get me to taste one but they looked disgusting, like little curly grey slugs.
So, I wouldn't.
Now and again one of the shells would contain a little hermit crab instead of a winkle. I liked to see those.

I never hear of winkles now. Do they still eat them over there in Blighty?
You see prawns, cockles, whelks, mussels...........but I can't remember the last time I saw a winkle (oooooh matron !!!!).
The above photo was on Wikipedia. I have to admit I faltered when it came to doing a search for "pictures of winkles". I chickened out.
I have been caught like that before when I googled something in all innocence (honest guv) and got way more than I bargained for.

I am wondering if they just went out of fashion. If that is the case then you can be assured that some day soon they will suddenly become a "gourmet" food item and restaurants will charge a fortune for them.

I think I shall ask about winkles on Facebook. Maybe someone there will have an answer to this mystery.

I still don't know why I suddenly thought about winkles though.

posted by Sue Banks @ 7:23 AM