Town's last butcher to shut up shop

George Howarth, a butcher all his life, has run his Market Place shop for 27 years.

He said his decision to close was a "sign of the times".

"I'll be giving up at the end of November," he told the Herald. "Trade has been down since when the BSE crisis began and it's never really come back.

"It's also a sign of the times as folk don't want to walk to the shops any more, and if they can't park anywhere handy they go. We've just recently had six weeks of road works which has made the situation worse and there has been a big knock back for everyone in the town centre really."

Mr Howarth added that events planned on the town's Market Place also proved a hindrance to trade, as it stopped people parking there.

"The only free parking in the town is on the Market Place and if people cannot park handy to the shops then they'll just go to Skipton instead," he said.

And while he felt the recent proposal to limit parking on the Market Place to two hours was a good idea, he said it had come too late for him.

Mr Howarth, who used to live in Settle but has since moved to Barnoldswick, continued: "I had hoped to carry on here until I retired but that was not to be. I'll have to go out and find myself another job now.

"I feel sorry for my customers, especially the older ones who will struggle because a lot of these bigger stores don't sell small amounts and they'll have to buy too much of what they want."

As well as selling the normal range of meats, Mr Howarth is well known for his black puddings which have been named some of the best in Europe. He has picked up several gold medals for the delicacy, of which he used to make about 60 to 70 a week.

He does not think the shop will be taken over by another butcher, commenting: "It'll probably be turned into another antiques shop."

Howarth's butchers will close on November 27.

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