How a new young team is keeping the legacy alive at Wirral’s oldest butchers

Jess Bowling admits the butchers’ world is not the most glamorous.

“It’s not something you dream of doing when you’re a little girl,” she smiles.

Yet along with husband Tom, and co-owner Jonny Carrol, the young team is helping to keep the legacy of Edge & Son Butchers in New Ferry alive.

It’s the oldest butchers shop in Wirral – and indeed the North West – and one of the oldest in the UK.

And the passionate trio are determined to keep the traditions and its craft going, offering the only farm to counter butchers experience on the Wirral.

Tom, Jess and Jonny took over the New Chester Road shop just over 18 months ago.

Although mum-of-two Jess, 35, explains:

“It came out of the blue for us in some ways.

“Jonny was trained by Callum Edge – the 182-year-old shop’s previous owner – and so had been a butcher there for a few years.

“But what the Edge family had was those generations of being brought up in the business and being very knowledgeable about it.

“Callum and his wife Debbie were looking for someone to take over and continue the legacy. They’d been looking for the right fit for some time because it’s obviously something to close to their hearts.”

Jess continues:

“Tom and I had been going to them as farmer clients, and they were butchering our beef. They were amazing, there’s no way we would have been able to do what we were doing, and selling our beef, without them down the road.

“We have a farm, Storeton Belted Galloways, that was Tom’s dad’s and when we came back here after meeting in the south, Tom bought a couple of cows because he thought it would be fun – and that spiralled into herds!

“Tom was fascinated by what they did and then one day, Callum and Debbie came over for dinner and said they had an idea, that we should get to know Jonny and buy the shop.

“Our kids were three and one then – Phoebe is now five and Beau, four. I was working for British Show Jumping at home and my husband still has a full time job, but we thought, let’s give it a go.”

Much of the reason Jess and Tom, 35 – and who still works as head of land for a utility company -decided to go ahead was because they could see it was good for the industry which this week is celebrating National Butchers Week, highlighting the skill, care and community role of independent butchers, and encouraging people to visit their local butcher to learn about great meat and enjoy quality food.

They spent months working with Callum and his team, and 27-year-old Jonny, whose fiancé Amy Harwick has also become a vital part of the shop, and their passion has grown.

“Jonny and I are in it I the day to day, and Tom helps out and runs the farm still.”

Offering a full farm to counter experience Edge & Son offers full transparency and traceability, with a control over how animals are reared, handled and prepared.

All livestock is sourced from local farms within a 25-mile radius:

“Our own cattle comes just two miles down the road,” says Jess, “so there’s no herding large numbers of cows into a truck and travelling for miles”.

Animals are dealt with via age-old methods, with no shortcuts or industrial processing. Edge & Son operates a small-scale abattoir allowing the team to manage the entire process from field to final cut, and it’s won awards for animal welfare, always focusing on care and respect, rather than speed and volume.

In a climate where small abattoirs are under growing pressure with necessarily strict regulations, as are local butchers’ shops, Jess and the team are committed to protecting this vital part of the food chain.

“It’s shops like ours that will help local farmers to survive,” stresses Jess. “It’s about treating the animals humanely which is why we have vegetarians coming into the shop because they believe if family members are going to still eat meat this is where they want to get it from, and producing quality meat.

“Our cattle are grass-fed, the process is sustainable (there’s no waste), and we want to ensure the craft is maintained. We have a 17-year-old apprentice to make sure younger people are learning the skills so they don’t die out!”

As well as the shop in New Ferry, Edge & Co has a counter at Delifonseca in Liverpool, and it hosts butchery masterclasses and farm tours.

“It’s a remarkable business that we are now very proud to be a part of,” says Jess. “As a mum of young children, I understand about cost and convenience, but we want to see that convenience come back to local shops, partnering bakers and greengrocers to help them thrive.

“And we want to ensure that Edge & Co and the crafts and standards it’s built continue to thrive too.”