My grandfather James Caldecott had a butchers shop's in Handsworth and West Bromwich but sadly he died in 1948. My uncle Jack had just left the air force and the shops had gone by then. I never knew why. My uncle's Jim and Jack worked in butchers shops. Uncle Jack worked at Walter Smiths, and a shop in Brownhills named Ken Terry untill he was 80! Uncle Jim worked for several butchers.
I remember uncle Jack & Jim Caldecott being trained at the Birmingham Meat Market when they left they worked in various butchers shops around the West Midlands.Jack was a manager at Dewhurst in Sutton. I also remember when I worked in Walsall, Uncle Jim worked at Potters Butchers (now Potters Products) in Stafford street just round the corner from where I worked. I used to call in the shop for a chat, and usually came away with a bag of sausages and bacon, much to the delight of my workmates as we'd have a big fry up at lunch time. Happy days LOL
i met walter smith several times buying at the meat market. butchers changed jobs quite often so maybe i did, no one comes to mind who worked for him. a very successful and clever meat retailer,as was HE HAYNES who i worked 5yrs for. ever heard of H.J.LUDLOW. who had a shop in harborne lane.?
Hello Grumlow, I'm new here.ever heard of H.J.LUDLOW. who had a shop in harborne lane.?
'Fraid not, I've lived in South Australia for the last 43 years. But it was a lovely place to live back then, that whole area from Grove Lane across to the golf links and St.Peters Church was almost pristine. It was called the Hilly Fields, my dad used to take me and by brother over there for the day, picnicking and kite flying. The big patch of ground where the "Hilly Fields" pub is now, right over to Reservoir road, was also not built on, so us kids had lots of room to play and explore.you are going back a long time. i do remember them building those shops in grove lane .i remember the butchers shop and when i delivered orders around the area i looked in to see how busy he was. do you still live around that area ? i mention ludlows butchers because my father owned the shop and i worked for him untill i was twenty, 1960) then i went to work for haynes butchers on spring hill just down from dudley road hospital.
Yes, I remember them...………...there was one in Perry Barr and maybe another. they specialized in sausages and pies! really good stuff!Anyone remember Rowbotham’s, the butchers ? I think there was one on Hawthorn Road, Kingstanding. We’re there others ? Viv.
Do you know any of the men who worked at Bennetts on 4th in Brum? Do any of these names ring a bell in the early to mid 70s - Hobbs, Watts, or first names Roy, Gary or Fred? Working on ancestry. Thanks so much. DebbieI would still like to hear more from butchers around the 60-70s who worked in the retail butchers meat trade around brum. i can remember dozens of workmates who i would like to make contact with .and customers who remember the staff of those days. supermarkets have taken over but the old butchers shops of those days must hold many memorys of customers and staff who share this period .
Was it real saw dust back then ?, I do remember it on the floor but thinking back it was really fine, having made and still make more than my fair share of saw dust it's not all fine.TASCOS and BCS Co-Op's had many butchery shops. I wonder when they stopped using sawdust on the floors?
You are so right...……..I worked for WT Baker butcher mostly on Soho Rd and Birchfield Rd after school for about three years. It was my job to clean up the old saw dust and put down fresh every night. The saw dust varied so much! As soon a you picked it up with your had you could feel the difference.As butchers, throughout the Kingdom, usually had sawdust on their floors it presumably came from sawmills or factories that were in the woodworking trade. It was bagged, when created on a large scale, from the cyclones that extracted it from workshops. I suspect it would be of varying grades and maybe dependant of source of supply.
The Co-Operative movement, in those days, for instance, made furniture for sale in their larger stores. Small companies and one-man bands, I imagine, bought it from wherever it was available and at reasonable cost.
There are old style butchers usually in small towns, who use traditional methods of display, in the manner familiar to older people. I have not seen any with sawdust on the floor but I believe there are still some in the 21st. century.
It was not simply to absorb spillage from carcasses etc. but the sawdust also acted as a de-humidifier.
As butchers, throughout the Kingdom, usually had sawdust on their floors it presumably came from sawmills or factories that were in the woodworking trade. It was bagged, when created on a large scale, from the cyclones that extracted it from workshops. I suspect it would be of varying grades and maybe dependant of source of supply.
The Co-Operative movement, in those days, for instance, made furniture for sale in their larger stores. Small companies and one-man bands, I imagine, bought it from wherever it was available and at reasonable cost.
There are old style butchers usually in small towns, who use traditional methods of display, in the manner familiar to older people. I have not seen any with sawdust on the floor but I believe there are still some in the 21st. century.
It was not simply to absorb spillage from carcasses etc. but the sawdust also acted as a de-humidifier.
fenns were in npr were theyOur butcher was Fenns in Nechells Park road.