An old school butcher’s shop has returned to a traditional town centre location on the corner of Crocker Street and St James’s Street in Newport.
A butchers has been on this very spot for almost a century after EE Downer first started selling meat from the corner store in the 1930s. The new owners – Andy and Paola Brooke – call their new business The Butcher Shop. They have already been trading successfully in Cowes for 5 years.
The Butcher Shop aims to specialise in fresh Island produce. Isle of Wight beef has been sourced from Richard Salter’s farm in the Undercliff. The lamb has been bred and fattened by local Isle of Wight farmer Angus Baird. The shop will also sell pies and sausage rolls from Scarrott’s Lane bakery, vegetables from Hunt’s in Rookley and The Garlic Farm, as well as honey from Brian Holder in Cowes and eggs from Hazelgrove Farm in Ashey.
Owner Andy Brooke says:
“We bought our shop in Cowes in 2017. It has grown as a business, and we decided to come to Newport as there was no traditional butcher’s in the town. We are looking to provide the people of Newport with high-quality meat.
“People should try our 32-day dry-aged beef. The aging process creates tender, flavourful meat. You have to taste it to believe it.
“We shall be trying to use as much local produce as we possibly can. We shall also attempt to keep the quality where it needs to be. If this means switching between farms, that’s what we’ll do.”
Does anyone remember Saunder’s meat pies? The contents of the pies used to have a strong pepper tang. Saunder’s butchers used to be located in Cross Street, Ryde.
I remember a long thin shop in Ryde High Street where I used to queue to get their huge, round flaky steak pies.
Barnetts
yes I remember Saunders in Cross Street Ryde
Yes it was a specialist pork butchers
Great news; I wish these guys all the very best of luck for this venture. See you soon.
Downer’s got it right , good attitude nothing to much trouble and reasonable prices get these fundamentals wrong and you’ve lost ,,, good luck
I wish them all the best, however if they are going to be like all the other “traditional” island shops, i.e. much more expensive than the supermarkets, they will be too expensive for me.
Newport is a different place to Cowes in terms of finances. I was always under the impression, butcher shop are much more expensive that shopping in a supermarket.
I wish them every success, but to succeed their prices will have to reflect what’s going on in these difficult times!
Try the sausages they are lovely – really meaty
We travel in from totland to the cowes shop just for the sausages,they’re fantastic!!!!!
Good luck to them I have been using them in Cowes and their products and service are excellent ( good value for money)! i used downers before they closed and the Bembridge firm took it over and it was never the same. All the best.
Congratulations, wishing you every success. I can recommend their sausages and beef burgers.
Brilliant news, good luck guys. I really miss Greg and his banter and bad jokes, and of course the excellent meat. And for those that think that independents are more expensive, check the price per kilo, Greg’s rump steak was always cheaper than Morrisons, and cut straight off the rump while you waited, no shrink wrap packs.
thankgoodness at last abutchers to give advice as well as sell good produce