Butcher Des chops his 51-year career short
AFTER nearly six decades of serving the finest cuts of meat to customers, popular butcher Des Barker is set to take on his biggest challenge yet - retirement.
AFTER nearly six decades of serving the finest cuts of meat to customers, popular butcher Des Barker is set to take on his biggest challenge yet - retirement.The 73-year-old, of Postland Road, in Crowland, will hang up his cleaver for the final time later this month.
However, when Des closes the doors to Parkinson’s Butchers, in West Street, Crowland, he will not only be bringing an end to an illustrious career.
The Parkinson Butchers name, which started in the market town way back in 1885, will also come to an end.
Des, who entered the butchery trade when he was just 16 years old, said: “I just felt the time was right to retire now. I am not getting any younger. This year has been the toughest for me to make ends meet as well.”
The sprightly pensioner, who will work at a nearby farm shop part-time, started work for the Parkinson family as a delivery driver in Gedney Hill. But when a member of the family passed away, he started work at the Parkinson shop in Crowland in 1979.
Since then, Des has earned national recognition for his work, winning Country Life Magazine’s National Meat Trade Shop of the Year award 10 years ago.
He has also survived the controversy around both BSE and CJD diseases, which blighted the butcher trade in recent years.
He added: “They devastated the family butcher. Those two hiccups didn’t do the trade any good at all.
“I was stubborn and I wouldn’t give in, but we never did regain the business we lost. Some of my regular customers are horrified I am retiring. They don’t know where they will get their meat from. But I am looking forward to spending time with my wife, Margaret, and trying to reduce my golf handicap.”
South Holland District Council’s ward councillor for Crowland and Deeping, Angela Harrison, said that the shop will be missed in the town.
“He’s known for his award winning sausages, and the shop itself will be missed. It’s always been there,” she said.
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Sunday 14 March 2010
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