By Mike Thatcher

I admitted to Clive, as we spoke in his kitchen at his cottage in Albourne, that I was as guilty as anyone that the High Street had lost its fishmonger; I loved the idea that it was there but didn’t use it enough and now regret its loss. Was he worried, in the long-term, that this could also happen to the butcher?

“No, I think there is always going to be a niche for butchers and people will always enjoy meat. And just as importantly they enjoy the cooking of it; from the sirloin joint to the everyday ‘St Lawrence’ sausage. The traditional roast at the weekend is still going strong, as well as BBQs during the summer.” Naturally, he is aware of changing habits and attitudes in the food industry as a whole. “We all care so much about what we eat and, in this day and age, we want to know it is of the best quality.

What people really care about is that what they’re eating has been well reared and enjoyed a good life.” It’s all a very different picture from when he started out in the profession. Soon after leaving college he got a job at Smith’s the butchers, in the building now occupied by Marrams.

[Read the full story on page 24 of September' 2019’s Hurst Life magazine]