24db wrote:bigmoog wrote:24db wrote:[quote="bigmoog] if you were down thee pub....you wouldn't just discuss one subject.....)
you've obviously never been down the pub with me then
well, one can only discuss TD for so long before touching on other subjects, what those subjects are though, I dunno
Whelk Stalls!
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A whelk stall in this sense is a small booth or stand from which one does trade (as in market stall). A whelk stall is therefore one that sells whelks, a whelk being some unfortunate marine mollusc that's used as a foodstuff in Europe. They're a traditional feature in the UK, and whelk stalls can be found here to this day in the UK, mainly in seaside towns. I have no idea how the whelks they sell are prepared for eating, but having tried one once, I can confirm that they taste like gritty bits of soft rubber pickled in strong vinegar. A whelk stall is also liable to offer cockles and mussels for sale, and maybe prawns and jellied eels as well.
Figuratively a whelk stall can also mean a very small and humble commercial enterprise that therefore should be extremely simple to operate and run - there's a dismissive British expression "he's not even fit to run a whelk stall" that's frequently used to this day. This seems allegedly to have been coined by Winston Churchill who, when attacking the opposition during a Parliamentiary debate, stated that they "were not fit to manage a whelk stall".
The demise in popularity of the traditional whelk in fact came about during the mid 80's UK tour by the legendary synth pioneers TANGERINE DREAM whilst at the coastal resort of Brighton. Prior to the doors of The Pavillion opening for the evenings performance fans waiting outside discussed the topic of Whelks vs the buying of certain TD merchandise...the rest is history
