Still bringing home the bacon: Glaisdale butcher marks a century in business
A traditional butcher’s shop in the heart of the North York Moors has celebrated its 100th birthday.
For a hundred years Ford’s butchers, situated on the High Street in the picturesque village of Glaisdale, has supplied fine quality meats to those living in the Esk Valley and beyond.
People travel from miles around to visit the shop, with a “Fordy’s pork pie” often at the forefront of their minds as one of the must have purchases to bring home.
The shop, which proudly displays the sign from the original butcher’s bike on the front door, offers a range of tasty pies, from their own Glaisdale pork pies, to steak, chicken, egg and bacon and sausage rolls (and many more besides).
Staples such as home-made sausages – ‘thickies or thinnies’, joints, chicken, burgers and bacon are sold alongside eggs, ham and locally produced honey.
Ford’s butcher’s is now operated by John Ford, the third generation to run the shop, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Henry Ford and his father Bob.
John works alongside wife Vicky, and a number of other villagers including Rachel Flintoft, Liz Garbutt, Cath Webster and Keith Dodsworth.
Entering the shop, you are met with a genuine smile and a warm greeting “Now young lady/ young man, what can I do for you?” – age is never mentioned, and the same greeting is used for all.
To celebrate the centenary the shop has put together a memory board from the last 100 years, notable figures who joined the business along the way receive mention, including John’s brother Ian, who himself spent over 25 years at the shop, and local man Colin Hutchinson, who worked at Ford’s for more than 40 years.
The memory board also includes letters from people who wrote to the shop to order their fare, including an interesting letter from 1935 in which a lady from Middlesbrough requested that a ham be sent to her the following day “as early as possible.” and the ham was duly dispatched on the first train.