Family butchers to close after more than a century

Chris Ramsden has run the business since 1977

A family butchers which has served a West Yorkshire town for more than a century is to close.

C Ramsden, on Huddersfield Road, Mirfield, first opened in 1910 and has been run by four generations of the same family since then.

However, with current owner Chris Ramsden set to retire after 47 years in the business it will mean the end of an era for the shop and community.

The shop is due to close on 1 April, but Mr Ramsden said he hoped someone might express an interest in taking it on before then.

Mr Ramsden, 66, said he would miss chatting with his customers and staff.

"In a way, retiring does make me sad," he said.

"But when I think my great-grandad died working and my dad died at 54, I owe it to my wife to spend a bit of time with her."

It was his great-grandfather who opened the business in 1910, and he took it over after his father's death in 1977.

However, with his own children opting for different careers there is not a fifth generation of the family to take it on.

The shop was first built on Huddersfield Road in Mirfield in 1910

"When I started there were five or six butchers around here and we'd all try to compete against each other to keep our own little bit of trade going," Mr Ramsden said.

He said the job had been his "life".

"If you ask my wife now she'd say I'm always at the shop. Once I'm retired she'll say, 'Can't you go the shop?!'"

Mr Ramsden said he was ready for a rest after decades of work, but hoped somebody might be willing to step into his shoes before he closes next month.

"It's a young person's job," he said.

"They'd need enthusiasm and backing from their family members.

"I know my customers would be really supportive of someone if they came in to take it on."

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