A view of the butchers, FH and JC London on the west side of Norton High Street.
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
A view of the butchers, FH and JC London on the west side of Norton High Street.
Did London’s have a butchers shop in Northcote Street in Stockton before opening the shop in Norton?
No Tony Davison wasn’t ginger – he had dark hair. He was also a scout down Mill Lane somewhere in the early 60’s. He joined the Royal Navy in the mid to late 60’s. He had a younger brother tho I can’t remember his name. My friend, Pam Blackmore, lived at the Malleable Club, Norton Road, in the early 60’s and Tony Davison lived in the road behind the Malleable Club.
When our family lived at the top of Junction Road, my mother often sent me down on my bicycle on Saturday mornings for minced beef from London’s. Later we moved closer to Norton village, to Curlew Lane in Crooksbarn and lived next door to the Londons.
I remember I was in 1st Norton Scouts c.1967 to 1971 and one of the London lads was in my patrol group (was it Dave London? Nice lad, always smiling!). I recall one lovely summer’s evening, all of us cooking over fires in our field at the back of the Old Mill. Our patrol made use of an old mill stone, buried in long grass at the top of the field; by lighting our fire in the middle, it made the perfect ‘stove’ ! Of course, whilst everyone else was making the best of sausages, we had best steak, courtesy of Dave’s dad!!!! This was accompanied by us making a basic dough mix, rolling it into long thin strips, twisting it around green twigs with the bark stripped off, and baking it over the fire ! Great times !
Best steak pies in Norton, maybe the world. Since Londons closed every pie I have consumed has been inferior. My mother treated me to a Londons pie as soon as I returned to Teesside from long distant parts. I always took a supply of them when I left Teesside to work far away.
Couldn’t agree more. Superb steak pies, I still miss them!
Chris I grew up always having animals around to be fed and looked after knowing full well when the time came they would be gone and others take their place.
Dad would kill upwards of a dozen Geese and Ducks plus a similar number of Cock birds at Christmas usually with tears in his eye’s, Mother would pluck and ploat them and I would have my nose almost inside them as she did it to see what came out. To us it was natural, the animals had the best of food and care and then we ate the best.
Tommy Hutchinson and Dad were fighting with one pig when Tommy said get the gun (humane killer) and shoot it whilst we have its head fast and I did, I was fourteen, Tommy said you are a natural but I spent many days on my Uncles farm, we shot rabbits and wood pigeons for food so again it was use.
After killing and butchering a pig (we did two a year and during the war had to give two to the Government) it took a week to salt the sides and hams which were then hung for up to six months whilst using up the previous bacon sides, Now we are told salt meat is not good for us, pity as I had it almost daily all my life and appear to have outlived the experts who told us that.
Put me right if I am wrong there were seven butchers in Norton Village at that time, and on the plus side never killed an animal for so called sport ever, only for food when needed.
Whilst still at school and in my teens I worked here for my uncle as a delivery boy on a Saturday morning and during holidays. Then it was Walker and Simpson who sold out to the London brothers in about 1953-54. One of the London brothers before this worked for Stan Everett in Leven Road.
During the early 60’s London’s had a week-end delivery lad who I think was called Tony Davison who lived in Mowbray Road, Norton.
Was Tony Davison a ginger haired lad and did Marjory Davidson’s parents have a shop on the corner of Byron Street and Fenny Street?
Marjory Davison’s parents lived in Station Road, Norton (What was once Page Terrace). I think the 2nd end house opposite the cricket club. She had a brother Ted who worked with me at Head Wrightsons in the late 50’s and then again at Hills in the 70’s and early 80’s. He also lived in Station Road.
Before and a while after the war this was Curry and Hutchinson’s shop Tommy Hutchinson was the chap who killed and butchered our pigs on our premises at Mill Lane. I think Curry owned a couple of shops and they did, as did most of the Norton Butchers, kill the animals in the back of the shop.
In later years London had taken over and their pies were wonderful, Marjory Davidson from Station Road married a London and helped make the pies, the aroma was such that you could not pass the shop by.
Frank, with reference to your comment regarding the killing and butchering of animals ‘on the premises’. It’s an odd fact, that a whole generation has by now, grown-up without any realisation of the process involved in putting meat on their plates. The neatly ‘packaged’ cuts and joints of meat we find in supermarkets, are now a long-way from the huge hook-hung carcasses, blood-stained aprons, sawdust strewn floors and strange aromas, that I recall experiencing as a child, whenever I went into my local butchers with my mother during the 1950’s. It makes one wonder, just how much more of life’s ‘realities’, future generations will be screened from in their everyday lives?