Smith's the butchers

No 13 North Street
SMITH'S THE BUTCHERS

Butchery has been one of the main retail businesses in Bourne, as in all small market towns, usually run by farmers who slaughtered their own stock for the meat they sold or bought from the local markets and at fatstock shows during the Christmas period. There were seven butchers trading in the town 1835, all offering a personal service, although the number has been drastically reduced today because of competition from the supermarkets.

Charles H Smith ran his shop at No 13 North Street during the first half of the 20th century and is listed in Kelly's directory for 1937 although it closed soon afterwards, most probably a victim of rationing during the Second World War of 1939-45 which claimed many small butchery shops throughout the country. The man in the doorway is Frank Greenfield who worked for him and later went into business on his own account.

The shop continued as retail premises until 1967 when the site was cleared to make way for the present Woolworths store, a utilitarian building designed purely for trade and with no architectural merit whereas the cottage it replaced was 18th century and built of stone and slate although much restored and of little practical use in a busy town centre.

SMITH'S THE BUTCHERS

This picture of the shop in North Street reflects a more leisurely age with the cycle at the pavement indicating less traffic than today and pedal rather than horse power.
The man in the white coat is Frank Greenfield who managed the shop for Charles Smith and on the left is Jack Richardson who may have been an employee while the other person in the picture on the right is unknown.
There were two upper floors to the building which indicate that either the owner, or more likely the manager, lived on the premises and although it is built of red brick with a slate roof, the frontage had been pebble dashed as a means of preservation, a method that was not always successful.

Smith's the butchers