BRITAIN’S oldest lady butcher says she has no plans to hang up her apron just yet after celebrating her 88th birthday.

Marian Voyce still starts work at FC Voyce and Son Butchers in Coleford’s town centre at 7.15am six days a week after 67 years with the business.

And as the industry celebrates National Butchers’ Week next week, she says she loves the work and meeting and serving her loyal customers who still want to be served by a traditional butcher.

Marian, whose birthday was last Friday (February 28), was born in 1932 – the same year her father-in-law Frederick founded the butchers in the town’s old Market Hall.

And after helping out with deliveries from the early 1950s, she went on to marry Frederick’s son and fellow butcher Lionel in 1959 before joining them behind the counter.

“I married, had my son and packed up at the solicitors where I worked in 1961 and started working behind the counter.

“Lionel was a very good master butcher and taught me all the tricks of the trade,” says Marian, who has continued to run their traditional family butchers on her own since Lionel’s passing in 2000.

“We moved into the Newland Street shop from the Market Hall in 1968 and brought across the old marble counter, which was a big store’s window ledge originally, and the cold room, which was dismantled and completely reassembled.

“I’ve also got a a solid wooden chopping block and the old sign FC Voyce and Son Butchers hanging above the shop. My husband refused to have anything plastic – he wanted authentic fittings. So it’s really traditional inside.

“At the start they had a slaughterhouse before later buying from Ensors, which was based where the Co-op is now. We had to split whole carcasses and cut up all the joints ready for sale in those days.

“I used to go shopping in the Market Hall, which was full of stores and very busy, and I first got involved by doing bits and pieces for them like deliveries after work.

“I’ve got the old bills book here in the shop going back to 1932. What is amazing is the price of things then, such as an order for an 88lb pig supplied to B Ensor, who was starting his own butchers then, for £2 14s 4d, and another for a 28lb lamb for £1 3s 4d. It’ll cost a lot more these days!”

Marian adds: “The but-chers grew up at the heart of a thriving hard-working community, and one day my father-in-law even saved a policeman who had been knocked down by two drunken men outside the Market Hall.

“The police gave him a walking stick with a silver engraved band which I still own which says ‘For Helping a

Comrade’.

“Back in the early days, there was no refrigeration, so what meat was left over at the end of that day father-in-law would put on his horse and cart and catch the miners coming out of the pits and sell to them.

“In the market, if the wives didn’t have enough money to pay, they’d put it on the slate and settle up at the weekend.”

Times have changed, and whereas the town used to have eight independent butchers, there are just three left today.

Marian says: “Independent butchers like ours are under pressure from online trade, but we still supply that personal touch that our customers like so much.

“A lot of my customers have been with me for years, but I’ve sadly lost four in recent months who have passed on.”

So why does Marian keep so busy into her late 80s, when most women her age have been retired for years?

“To be honest, running the butchers and working six days a week keeps me going,” she admits.

“My son Paul, who is 58, lives a fair distance away in the Midlands, so it gives me something to do and keeps me busy. I’d miss chatting to my customers.

“It’s a reason to get up in the morning, and I’m here Monday to Saturday from 7.15am to 4.30pm.”

She cuts her bacon and the ham she roasts by hand to order in front of her customers, alongside her steaks, joints and chops. But she admits that liver leaves her cold.

“Lionel taught me how to slice it, but I don’t like handling or cutting it. I can’t do it without shuddering, but I try to keep a brave face on when a customer asks for it,” she smiles.

Inside, a row of chairs lets customers sit down and have a chat while Marian serves them.

“And I love it when parents come in with their children and leave them with me when they pop next door to get something,” she adds.

Hilary Bowen, who popped in for some ham, said: “Marian’s a remarkable lady and looks after all her customers really well. To be still going strong at 88 and providing such a good service is amazing.

“She knows exactly what her customers like and she’s an excellent butcher. I’d recommend her to anyone.”

Fellow customer Allison Macphee added: “Her work ethic is incredible. She works alone cutting meat to order and even continued working the day after she fractured her shoulder.”

Marian said: “I’ve been running the shop since the early 1990s and after Lionel passed at the age of 87, I’ve kept it going on my own.

“We rarely had a holiday, but I did later visit Malaysia, Cuba, Tenerife and New York, though I haven’t had a break in years, as I don’t want to let my customers down.

“I can’t go on for ever, but I’ll just see how it goes. I want to keep it going as long as I can for Frederick and Lionel, who were there at the start nearly 90 years ago.

“The FW Voyce and Son sign is still hanging above the shop, and I know they’ll be looking down very pleased that I’ve managed to keep it going.

“Frederick would be delighted – he was dedicated to his job and his customers.”