There can’t be many small villages that can boast of a butcher’s shop that has provided the highest quality meat and excellent service for 47 years. Rickett’s Family Butcher has been serving the village since 1959 when Stanley Rickett took over the shop in Chapel Croft from Charlie Wingfield. Stanley’s son, Michael, who has been running the business for the past 17 years, is the fourth generation of butchers in his family.
Over the years Michael has seen many changes in his customers’ requirements, from the demise of the traditional Sunday roast to the rise in demand for meats suitable for barbecues. He has responded to all these changes but the most devastating effect on his business was the arrival of Sainsbury’s at Apsley. Within four months of the supermarket’s opening his turnover had dropped by half!
As a small, quality butcher he cannot compete with offers of ’2 for 1′. However, what he does offer is meat, poultry and game of the highest quality, a personal service and, if required, advice on different cuts of meat and how to cook them.
Michael sells Scotch beef matured by traditional methods, Devon lamb, free-range chickens and ducks, home cooked gammon ham and home made sausages (traditional, pork and leek and barbecue), and local farm eggs. He provides free-range turkeys at Christmas and game in season – to order. If you are holding a party or barbecue, Michael will take your order and have it ready to collect.
The shop, next to Stanley’s Stores, is open on Tuesdays from 8am – 5pm, Wednesdays from 8am – 1pm, Thursdays and Fridays from 8am – 5pm and Saturdays from 8am – 1pm (closed on Mondays). Telephone 01923 262556. Parking available outside the shop.
Michael is just as happy to provide small quantities for single people and small families as he is to fulfil orders for large joints and functions. “My grandfather’s original shop opened in Bovingdon in 1907 – it would be nice to celebrate 100 years of service to local villages in 2007″ he says. To borrow a cricketing phrase – 99 not out – yet.