A HYDE institution is celebrating 25 years of keeping the town fed – and shows no signs of stopping any time soon.
Add up the number of jacket potatoes Angie Colgan has served from her Jackets stall on the indoor market since 1999 and you are well over 250,000.
But the love of what she does is as strong now as it was when she served her first on October 20 that year.
And as she toasts quarter of a century, she has looked back on how it has seen her become a member of a family.
“I’ve got three Godchildren through here,” said the woman who serves between 60 and 80 spuds a day, five days a week.
“That’s through a customer I’ve got to know really well. My husband and I are Godparents to their three children.
“I’ve been to parties, birthdays, weddings, engagements and, sadly, a couple of funerals as I’ve got to know them so well.
“I’ve known some of my customers since they were 15-years-old, if not younger. I see them now with their children!
“Serving them can be a strange, especially when I’ve not seen someone for a while and they say, ‘Angie, I didn’t know you’d still be here.’”
Having started in Hyde in 1999 – although Angie admits she has never thought of it as having done so the last millennium – two fillings stand out as most popular, homemade chilli and coleslaw.
And while there have been hard days – especially early on after moving from Stalybridge, where she first took on a business in 1997 – the love has conquered all.
She added: “My husband, Pat, went three times a week to the Stalybridge stall but one day it said closed due to illness, then it was for sale.
“At the time, I was working for Robert Scott in Greenfield. I came home one night and my husband said, ‘Do you want to buy a business? Do you want to be your own boss?’
“I said, ‘Go on then, let’s do it.’
“I was told in July 1999 I had to leave as the market was being closed but this came up.
“All it had was one door and a white sink, nothing else. It was like a storeroom.
“I did wonder why at first as for the first two years I was doing six days a week. I put my heart and soul into it, trying to get people to trust me that I wasn’t a fly-by and I would look after people. It took that first two years to get people to trust me.
“Then my husband said, ‘You need to take one day off, otherwise you’re not going to be good for anybody.’ I thought I’d try a Monday and I’ve never looked back.”
Angie is at her business just before 8am every day to do her preparation and make the chilli, curry and coleslaw, which remains a closely guarded secret,
The recent trend towards online shopping has not gone unnoticed but you cannot order her quality baked potatoes through a website, so do not think there are thoughts of moving.
She told The Correspondent: “People getting everything online now, rather than coming out and seeing people. They’d rather do it online or ring up and not bother coming out.
“But closing has never been a thought – my heart’s still here. I still love doing what I do. People have said they thought I’d have retired. I say I can’t.
“I’m hoping I’m here until there’s not a market anymore. That’s how much I love it. I just love seeing people.”
And she has an answer for the bug question. What is the secret behind a great jacket potato?
The slogan ‘I don’t sell fast food, I sell good home-made food as fast as I can,’ is a clue.
As she plans a draw on December 21, which will see 25 prizes given away, she said: “Just time. Don’t rush it to be cooked.
“It takes a couple of hours as I use the old ovens – and don’t put it in foil to cook. Put it in the oven as it is.”