The incredible story of the Manchester Smoke House spans thousands of miles, four generations, and nearly ended with the sinking of the Titanic.

Billed as Manchester's only salmon smokery, it is now owned by Richard Hyman.

Richard makes smoked salmon to his great grandfather Joseph Hyman's recipe - something which came close to disappearing when he stepped foot on the doomed cruise ship in 1912 .

Originally from Russia, Joseph wanted to start a new life in the States, and saved up enough to buy a one-way ticket to New York with his wife and son. The boat they took first - before the ill-fated liner - docked safely and the captain welcomed them to their new life in 'the US'. Unfortunately, they were in Glasgow rather than across the Atlantic.

It was a common scam at the time to dupe poor travellers looking for prosperity in the US, but far from being defeated, Joseph was still hungry for the promised land.

"In those days, that was the place to be," explains Richard. "In Russia there was a lot of problems, a lot of anti-Semitism, and they wanted to escape from that,"

He saved his pennies once again, and this time bought a ticket bound for New York aboard the HMS Titanic.

Leaving his wife and young son, Joseph went ahead to establish a base for his family across the pond.

Joseph Hyman and his wife Esther

His ticket in third class steerage cost him £7 and 17 shillings.

"He got on the ship, and one night he was just walking around on deck because he couldn't sleep," says Richard.

"He was lucky."

"He had a big thick Russian coat so he wasn't affected by the cold - that was when they hit the iceberg."

In the rush to escape, Joseph was asked whether he could row a boat. He told them that he could, and was put in charge of lifeboat C.

It was the same lifeboat which saved the life of Bruce Ismay – the English businessman and chairman of Titanic's creator White Star Line. It's reported that Ismay authorised the reduction of lifeboats on board the Titanic from 48 to 16 - something he probably regretted as he jumped on board one 20 minutes before the great ship sank.

"He was portrayed as being a coward," says Richard, referencing the blockbusting film about the ill-fated boat.

"But from what I understand, a lot of the lifeboats weren't full – a lot of people refused to get in because it was unsinkable. A woman had told [Ismay], don't be stupid, just get in."

Joseph led the lifeboat to safety, and it was rescued by the Carpathia around three hours later, before docking in New York

"How scary must that have been?" says Richard, "It must have been hideous, hearing people screaming and drowning – I can imagine that he was deeply traumatized."

As a third-class passenger, Joseph was incredibly lucky to be alive. In first class over a third of the men, almost all of the women and all the children survived. In second it was less than 10 per cent of the men, 84 per cent of the women and all the children. But in steerage 12 per cent of the men, 55 per cent of the women and less than one in three of the children survived.

Richard Hyman with the model of the Titanic which had pride of place by the tills in the deli for a long time

With his feet on dry land, Joseph was inspired by the thriving food scene in the Big Apple. The delicatessens and cafés were unlike anything he'd seen before, and he decided to take the idea back to the UK, where he could also be reunited with his family.

There was just one problem: Joseph was now terrified of boats.

"He was too scared. His family was too scared to come over here. So he ended up getting completely blottoed," says Richard.

"The next thing he knew, he was on a boat back over here. It was his cousin [who got him drunk], I don't think he knew it was even going to happen."

Safely back in the UK, Joseph migrated to Manchester, where there was a strong Jewish community. It was here, in 1913, that he opened Titanics delicatessen in Cheetham Hill .

Richard's great grandfather died in 1956, but the Waterloo Road kosher deli continued into its fourth generation of Hymans, establishing itself as a hub of the local community.

The Manchester Smoke House owner Richard Hyman

Business was going well, but Richard says that the horrors of the Titanic were not forgotten.

"He ended up sharing a house with my dad's first cousin – he said he didn't really talk about it at all.

"But he did wake up most nights screaming, according to my cousin. He would have been traumatised.

"How do you get over something like that? But he did, he was a very nice guy in the shop, but I'm sure there was a lot of things going on behind the scenes."

Richard took over the business from his dad, and despite a number of successful years, Titanics closed in 2016.

Richard recalls: "At the time it was a nice area, this was inner city living, and where all the Jewish people settled. This was the hub – people would meet here from Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester.

Richard Hyman

"It went downhill – due to neglect."

"It was sad to sell it - it's a piece of social history."

It was a tragic loss for the family, but Richard decided to carry on the legacy in the form of one of his great grandfather's recipes: smoked salmon.

Now billed as the only smoke house in Manchester, he follows his family recipe to create quality smoked salmon, renting the upstairs space in what was formerly his father's deli.

"It's his traditional recipe – there's only three ingredients – good quality salmon, good quality salt, and good quality smoke.

Richard Hyman at The Manchester Smoke House

"There's elements of knowledge that we've gained over the years, all the things he developed which has been passed down through the generations."

Today, Richard uses his great grandfather's curing recipe - which he named the Titanic cure - to treat the fish, which arrives in Manchester fresh from high quality farms in North West Scotland.

Fish are then filleted by hand, and cured in salt for a secret length of time. They're then loaded into the smoker, to be cold smoked overnight with oak chips.

The process of producing the smoked salmon is all done by hand to meet the exacting standards that Joseph Hyman developed.

There have been some changes though: with the dominance of supermarkets, Richard has had to adapt his business to make it sustainable with today's shopping habits. The deli now closed, The Manchester Smoke House salmon is sold on their website , Lulu's Kitchen in Cheadle, at markets around Manchester, and wholesale to restaurants in the region.

On the website, a packet of 100g will cost £3.75. It's a little pricier compared to say a supermarket own-brand packet of 120g for £3, but the quality is worth the mark up, says Richard, who objects to unsustainable farming practices which have resulted in overcrowded salmon pens, leading to problems such as sea lice.

"Why would you want fish that aren't being looked after? he asks. "You want fish to swim so it has a decent texture and flavour. We all objected to battery hens, because they shouldn't be cooped up in this cage where they can't move – it's just wrong.

"Ours is salmon, salt and smoke. If you look on a lot of the ingredients [in supermarkets] – there's sugar – they put the sugar in the mask the salt, so it has a longer shelf life.

"There's got to be something that gives. I'd rather that people buy quality smoked salmon once every two weeks rather than every day."

"It's in the blood," says Richard. "I do it in my sleep – literally, I dream salmon."

"I'm proud of what I do."