Were there many Dewhurst butchers in Brum? As there were several in Cov. At least two in town and one each in two of the districts I have lived in. They used to put shelf dividers with little green plastic hedges attached to them. My mate and his two brothers all worked together in one of them on Ball Hill. One of the shops used to display meat outside, sitting on a trestle with that plastic grass, on thin metallic paper trays covers in cling film probably up till the 70s. I remember a dog running off with a tray of belly pork chops and the butcher running after him. There were five butchers trading in one small shopping area then, now just one. The Co Op used to have a proper butcher inside too then. Our family owned butchers shop has been there years (Taylors) they have the original shop photo displayed on the wall in a huge freeze is it called? with a Hereford bull and the butcher, and his grandad as a little lad. He is over retiring age now. The old shop window was crammed full off hanging joints and poultry. So different now. We stand 2 sheep apart like the sign says, maximum of three customers at a time, if there are 3 butchers to serve us, we come in via a traffic light system, in one door, a squirt of the hand gel, no mask, no meat, the butchers wash their hands between serving fresh meat and cooked meat and pies, and they tell you they are doing that, serving from behind a clear screen, we stand in our foot print boxes, and we move up, the old ladies cannot sit on the window ledge any more inside either, but they will deliver, and we go out the other door. I get a raffle ticket for a bottle of wine if I bring one of their branded bags, I am going tomorrow!I wasn't a butcher but I worked in dozens of their shops all round Birmingham and the midlands from 1961. Barretts of west Brom, Walter Smith, Dewhurst, Mathews etc so very likely I met some of you butchers here.
Working for shopfitters G.W.Stokes, Bow street we fitted out every new Dewhurst shop and refurbished all the old ones by changing the shop sign and removing J.H. from the J.H.Dewhurst sign. I was a painter and we had to paint the shop ceiling and window ceiling on the 1/2 day closing, the high ceilings on the old shops were anaglypta and painted with white gloss paint which rapidly went yellow again. Usually the manager was helpful and cleared the window a bit early so we could get in and undercoat the ceiling and return a week later to gloss it. Every shop manager that left us on our own always left a penny in the open till drawer!
A refurbish often meant removal of the Victorian marble slab in the window and counter top and replacing with a formica one, a new suspended tile ceiling, and a pegboard fitted on a suitable part of the wall for cans. The old shop signs were made of three pieces of white glass called Vitreolite with metal letters fitted on which was replaced with formica. The heavy Vitreolite was a nightmare to remove, particularly standing up on a catwalk and trestles as you easily could cut yourself on the edges as did I.
Some of the butchers were great fun and liked a good laugh, especially in the black country. One in West Brom said something to me I never forgot, what on Earth made you want to be a painter he asked? to which I replied what made you want to be a butcher? He said "I told the the school careers officer I wanted to work with animals but I day mean bits of em"!
I recall Dewhursts as having mirrors which looked like there was more meat. In Taylors they have a diploma and a big ceramic Hereford bull.They make their own sausages. They used to have might still have blue ones for Coventry Blaze Ice Hockey Team. I think they sponsor them. Some of the team come to shop they are either American or Canadian. I remember Baxters in town and they had a massive ceramic sitting pig outside in the day time for years then it was vandalised and replaced but it wasn't so good. We had Butcher Boy with a mechanical butcher in the window wielding a chopper. Another school friend started at Dewhurst, his initiation was to have his arms covered in aspic jelly. Grandad was the expert he said the chickens' thighs should be plump and the breast bone too, and he wouldn't buy a bird with an injury. We had loads of butchers and we shopped at a lot of them except the market. Nan said the meat was rawmy and she used to run past with me and they did pong. I recall the old butchers shops with tiles outside under the window.
Izzy, most have done away with the red light, in part it was a give away as to what was going on. Now they have lights with a wave length to is used on meat, fish and vegetables to make them look better. The wave length for each is different to optimize the product.
Another old trick was to put their thumb on the scales when your purchase was weighed, I doubt if that was perculiar to butchers alone ?
Bennetts was a pork butcher in the 1960's, near the corner of Blake lane by the CO OP. On the left was Thompsons butchers, a driving school and a wool and baby shop. I lived at the wool shop from 1956 to 1967.
I am most grateful for your reply! Would you know the names of any of the butchers there around 1963-1964? Maybe an apprentis?
You are spot on with this info and the pic is where my friend was born.
Hi,
i am sure that if pedrocut spots this post he could post the adverts for you
Welcome to the Forum, enjoy!
That was my Grandads brother Jack.
My Grandads brother Jack owned the butchers on Green Lane.
