Heacham On Line are pleased to be able to do a small feature on the 40 years of Heacham Abattoir Ltd. It all began back in the mid 1950's when Stan Rudd started the business behind Jarvis Butchers at the junction of the High Street and School Road. In 1962 the premises were unable to be upgraded to meet hygiene regulations, so Stan purchased the land of the present site on Malthouse Crescent. That year the start of the buildings commenced and in January 1963 they opened for business. The slaughter house went from strength to strength and at one time employed 14 staff. The business was run by Stan and his three sons, Pat, Fred and Jimmy until Stan's death at the early age of sixty in 1977. From then on the three sons ran the business with Pat taking control of the slaughter house, Jimmy was in charge of transport and maintenance, while Fred was in charge of the shop and the erection of new buildings. In 1992 the slaughter house was closed and the business changed to a meat depot and continued until 2003 when it was decided after 40 years that retirement was in order. The final end comes on Monday 22nd March 2004 when an auction will be held at the premises to sell off everything from the contents of the office to slaughter house equipment. Below we have some photos from the early days to the present day to give you one last look at a business that has served Heacham proudly for 40 years and I for one will miss their wonderful meat produce.
Finally we wish Jimmy, Pat and Fred a long and happy retirement.