It is not every day the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall come into your shop, but Morris Adamson who is the village butcher in Rothbury in Northumberland was delighted to entertain the Royal visitors last week after they had performed their official duty by opening the renovated Jubilee Institute Hall.
And what is more, Charles and Camilla showed so much enthusiasm talking to Morris and his staff and looking around the tiny shop, they stayed longer than planned for the private visit. " I talked to them for about 20 minutes about the business. It was almost surreal, staggering. They were both very well informed about the trade, and the Duchess really impressed me with her knowledge and enthusiasm. I put together for them a gift of Northumbrian lamb and specialist sausages and two days later they sent me a thank you letter from Clarence House saying how much they had enjoyed the visit and the meat."
Morris added: " The Duchess told me in the shop that her son (Tom) was a food critic and she said she would recommend he should come up to see us in Rothbury to sample our speciality sausages. And Prince Charles congratulated us on keeping alive the traditions of the trade and providing meat that was sourced locally. He urged us to keep up the good work. It was amazing, really."
It is only two years since 36-year-old Morris Adamson started entering his business, Rothbury Family Butchers, in national competitions, and already he has won a string of titles.
His successes have included eight golds, two silvers and two bronzes at The Smithfield Awards, run by the Guild of Q Butchers, who represent many of the country's leading butchers.
Morris, who opened the shop in Townfoot, Rothbury, in May 2000, employs a staff of only four in confined premises where he and his team somehow manage to produce up to 30 varieties of sausages, from the conventional thin pork to the more exotic blends such as pork, cranberry and stilton, and venison in red wine.
The business has a growing on-line trade, selling to customers all over the country through its own website, www.rothburyfamilybutchers.co.uk, set up by Lazy Grace, a Rothbury-based creative marketing company. " Because we are such a small place all the businesses in Rothbury pull together to help each other grow," said Morris, who is chairman of Rothbury and Coquetdale Business Club.
For the second year running, Morris has sourced some of the finest lambs in Northumberland from East Wingates Farm, Longhorsley. The Bell family, who run the farm, have farmed in Northumberland for over 400 years.
Earlier this year, Morris also introduced his customers to free-range chickens from Blagdon Farm at Seaton Burn, near Morpeth. Rotisserie chickens are also cooked daily in the Rothbury butcher's shop.
Morris, who is married with three children, lives in Rothbury. He comes from Berwick-upon-Tweed where he was manager of the Co-op butcher's shop before leaving the town in 1991.
