BRINGING LOCAL FOOD TO LIFE
The story of Nelson’s Butchers With four shops and one pie factory in Stamford and Rutland, local legend Nelson’s is still going strong. By Matt Wright n’s Making Nelso rd fo am St pies in s ie xt Si e th in
Guy Gilman
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UTCHERS’ shops are like vinyl records. Once ubiquitous, then chucked out in favour of tapes, CDs and minidiscs (supermarkets) and now revered again due to their superior quality and traditional feel. Not too long ago, every village had its own butcher’s but now even some city centres are bereft. In fact, according to various online sources, over the past 25 years, the number of independent butchers in the UK has fallen from around 15,000 to 6,000. But the specialist meat purveyor is on the rise again. Many of us have realised their true worth: the fact they often (but not always) source from local farms, thereby reducing food miles; the fact they offer a bespoke service so you can ask them to do special cuts; the fact they don’t tend to sell horsemeat labelled as beef. Four local butcher’s shops that have carried on regardless for what seems like forever display the word “Nelson’s” above the door. Nelson’s HQ is in Stamford, where it has not one but two shops plus a production facility – for making pies among other products. A third Nelson’s sits on Oakham High Street, and a fourth is located in Uppingham. It also has a mobile shop that drives out to various local villages. So what’s the story of Nelson’s, a name that’s surely been responsible for more Sunday lunches and Christmas dinners in Stamford and Rutland than any other? Well, today it’s run by local man Guy Gilman, who has been with Nelson’s for 40 years. Guy’s uncle, Frank Gilman, a local farmer, bought the business in 1952 from Harold Nelson, and Harold acquired the business in 1924. Nelson’s original shop is in Stamford’s Red Lion Square, which has been a butcher’s shop since at least 1826 and used to be called Hall’s. Guy says: “When I started with Nelson’s there were more shops – one in Barrowden, another in North Luffenham and two in Oakham. We also had more mobile shops – five or six. “The factory here in North Street, Stamford, where we make pork pies and other things, was built in 1959. Before that, Nelson’s pies were baked in old coke ovens in the cellar of the Red Lion Square shop. The factory was built on North Street because there used to be a slaughterhouse on the top side of the car park, which closed in about 1970.”
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