Photograph - Mighty Meats Butchers
Object
Photograph
Production date
10/2010
Object number
2023.20
Physical Description
Print of a photo of three men inside of a butchers shop, behind the glass cabinets. There is a red and white striped awning outside of the shop. The floor is tiled with cream and brown tiles. Part of a photo series by Colin O'Brien.
Object history
Mighty Meats is located at 46 Chatsworth Road. It is a butchers shop which has been serving the community for more than 60 years.
This photo is part of a series that featured in the exhibition ‘Last of the Real High Streets’ held in 2010 at Chats Palace, an arts centre and theatre in Hackney. The exhibition captured the changing shops and communities on Chatsworth Road, and included the stories of people written by travel writer Jane Egginton.
This photo is part of a series that featured in the exhibition ‘Last of the Real High Streets’ held in 2010 at Chats Palace, an arts centre and theatre in Hackney. The exhibition captured the changing shops and communities on Chatsworth Road, and included the stories of people written by travel writer Jane Egginton.
Associated Organisation
Chats Palace (Featured)
Associated Person
Colin O'Brien (Photographer)
Jane Egginton (Writer)
Jane Egginton (Writer)
Associated Place
Chatsworth Road (Place)
Dimension
Length: 482mm
Width: 329mm
Width: 329mm
Exhibition Label
From the exhibition 'Last of the Real High Streets' at Chats Palace [8 October - 27 November 2010].
Mighty Meats
"Thirty years I have been a butcher on Chatsworth Road," says Alex, the Cypriot owner of Mighty Meats (now at number 46, and originally at number 58). "There was a nice, beautiful market. Nice, very nice. When I came here, off licence was the off licence. Greengrocers was a greengrocers. Butcher shop was a butcher shop. Now you can see, every shop sells everything. I still only sell just meat – original – but we lost everything else. I don’t know if the market coming back will make a difference; the big problem is the supermarkets. Before people would wait in a queue to get their meat. If you come here and you try to park now they charge you a fortune. You go to the supermarket all the parking is free, darling."
According to Alex, Sunday opening about 20 years ago changed everything. Then, when the parking restrictions came in a few years ago, it was the real nail in the coffin. "Before, at the fruit and veg shop that was owned by Italians, there would be between 50 and 100 people inside. And it would sell just fruit and vegetables, not nuts or even eggs. I have never seen anything like it in my life – and I have been in London 40 years. Now everything's changed. Nothing original is left. Now all shops sell everything. There used to be seven butchers in Chatsworth Road. Seven and everybody was happy."
Mighty Meats
"Thirty years I have been a butcher on Chatsworth Road," says Alex, the Cypriot owner of Mighty Meats (now at number 46, and originally at number 58). "There was a nice, beautiful market. Nice, very nice. When I came here, off licence was the off licence. Greengrocers was a greengrocers. Butcher shop was a butcher shop. Now you can see, every shop sells everything. I still only sell just meat – original – but we lost everything else. I don’t know if the market coming back will make a difference; the big problem is the supermarkets. Before people would wait in a queue to get their meat. If you come here and you try to park now they charge you a fortune. You go to the supermarket all the parking is free, darling."
According to Alex, Sunday opening about 20 years ago changed everything. Then, when the parking restrictions came in a few years ago, it was the real nail in the coffin. "Before, at the fruit and veg shop that was owned by Italians, there would be between 50 and 100 people inside. And it would sell just fruit and vegetables, not nuts or even eggs. I have never seen anything like it in my life – and I have been in London 40 years. Now everything's changed. Nothing original is left. Now all shops sell everything. There used to be seven butchers in Chatsworth Road. Seven and everybody was happy."
Credit line
Image ⓒ Colin O'Brien
Exhibition label text ⓒ Jane Egginton
Exhibition label text ⓒ Jane Egginton
On display?
No
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