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U.C.P. Memories

If I ever said "UCP" to my father he would go all nostalgic for his lost youth in the depths of Lancashire. "Tripe and onions," he would sigh, "cowheels". UCP stands for United Cattle Products, an organisation dedicated to making money by selling the bits of cows and pigs that no other organisation would touch. [...] But my father loved it.
• Source: http://homepages.paradise.net.nz

In 1953, a wool gabardine coat cost £6/19/6 at Shepley House in Chestergate, a three piece suite could be bought from Riley’s in Chestergate for £29/29/6 and a pound of tripe cost one shilling and fourpence at UCP also in Chestergate. The UCP also had a cafe, though the abbreviation of the establishment was possibly not the most inviting advertisement – it stood for United Cattle Products.
• Source: www.maccweb.org.uk

A move to Burnley came next, where I looked after several sites in that delightful part of the country, driving to 10-men locations hidden at the point of equilateral triangles the country over. Here the interesting bit was in the bus station, for here was a tripe shop. Cattle producers were in plenty, as nearby was the UCP (United Cattle Products) Works, wherein Mr and Mrs Atkinson held sway, and where one of my mates was billeted. Useful for us, for there were huge wooden vats, about five feet deep and probably eight feet diameter, into which steam-heated water was introduced to clean and sterilise the cattle products.
• Source: www.gazetteherald.co.uk

I was never a lover of tripe and onions, the only way to eat it was straight from the shop all clean and white with plenty of vinegar and pepper. It made little difference whether it was honeycomb or thick seam tripe, but my old dad preferred honeycomb. He reckoned that it held more vinegar than other types. In my day, 80 years ago, there were lots of tripe shops around Manchester. One of the best was the U.C.P. (United Cattle Products) shop on Rochdale Rd. Collyhurst. It was on the corner of Squash Belly Entry (now there's an address that will jog the oldie's memory). It always had a huge white porcelain plate in the window, on which the lady used to lay out the sheets of beautiful white tripe. Ah! Memories are made of this.
• Source: www.menmedia.co.uk

We lived like a lower middle class family. Plain, good, frugal in a way, that there was no waste you see. [...] Cowheel and trotters were occasionally on the table as an alternative yes. [...] I liked cowheels and trotters and tripe. Yes, but I never fancied black puddings. [...] In Lancashire of course there was a great import of cattle from Ireland. [...] Into Liverpool and the abattoirs, and to other places and consequently what was known as offal was distributed you see, and large firms [dealt in it]. The population developed tremendously in the industrial era and there were shops, whole special shops who just sold these delicacies you see? Oh yes. [There were many family firms that did nothing but boil and sell tripe, cowheel and trotters. There was one major chain of shops, United Cattle Products, UCP, who did the same thing and ran restaurants selling the cooked products. They had a large processing factory in Levenshulme, Manchester].
• Source: www.oneguyfrombarlick.co.uk

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