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The History of the Berowra Butchery and it's Building
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DetailsEven prior to the War the community of Berowra were always keen to have a local butcher. Aside from someone slaughtering an animal themselves, Berowra residents were forced to get their meat from Hornsby, usually Hales Butchery. Whilst Hales did take orders for home delivery this was generally only done once or twice a week.
In 1953, a butcher shop was finally constructed for Berowra. It was located near the corner of Pacific Highway and Park Street (now Berowra Waters Road), and while it was called “Skinners Butcher Shop”, it is unclear who ran the shop in those early years. However, it was well supported by the Berowra community.
At the same time, Maurice Cleary had a similar building constructed adjacent to the butcher shop building in which he opened “Berowra Pharmacy”, the district’s first chemist. The pharmacy was taken over in 1955 by Lionel Morris and his wife Kay, who ran the business for over three decades.
In 1960, Albie Wilder, from Asquith, bought the butcher shop and called it "BEROWRA BUTCHERY". His brother Dick Wilder managed the business and he employed his nephew, John Bentley, in the shop from 1962, who moved into Berowra. By 1966, local man, Alick Lindsay, was also working with Dick and John in his butchery.
In 1971, John Bentley purchased the butcher shop from his uncle, and he carefully followed the advertisement on the side of the store “GOOD SERVICE AND QUALITY MEAT”.
Berowra Butchery continued to thrive under John and he actively supported all the local sports clubs with subsidized meat trays for fundraiser raffles. In return the sports clubs’ members supported Berowra Butchery. He also supported many of the various clubs for their social days by donating the meat to be eaten at their events.
In 1975, John Bentley put on a local lad, Bruce Watterson as a young apprentice to help him and Alick run Berowra Butchery.
On 4th February 1988, John Bentley sold the premises after 26 years working in the business and his last 17 years as owner/operator. As a local butcher John felt the squeeze from the large supermarkets for many years, as they changed the way we shopped. John was forced to follow his friend, Alick Lindsay, across to Woolworths to work in several of their butcheries for the next 17 years.
The shop was purchased by Pearl Wong, who leased it out to Berowra Framing for many years. The building was sold again, and it became a café called C Spot and later Bocelli’s Restaurant. Wellspring Café was opened by Phil Wells from around 2010 and since mid-2016 the popular Wise Monkey Café (owned and managed by Amy Grenfell) has operated out of the old butcher shop building.
Congratulations to Amy and the Wise Monkey team for their recent refurbishment of the café, which looks excellent. This refurbishment work will be shown on Channel 10 in an upcoming episode of “The Living Room”.
CreatorNathan TilburyKeywordsBerowraBusinessBusinesses
In 1953, a butcher shop was finally constructed for Berowra. It was located near the corner of Pacific Highway and Park Street (now Berowra Waters Road), and while it was called “Skinners Butcher Shop”, it is unclear who ran the shop in those early years. However, it was well supported by the Berowra community.
At the same time, Maurice Cleary had a similar building constructed adjacent to the butcher shop building in which he opened “Berowra Pharmacy”, the district’s first chemist. The pharmacy was taken over in 1955 by Lionel Morris and his wife Kay, who ran the business for over three decades.
In 1960, Albie Wilder, from Asquith, bought the butcher shop and called it "BEROWRA BUTCHERY". His brother Dick Wilder managed the business and he employed his nephew, John Bentley, in the shop from 1962, who moved into Berowra. By 1966, local man, Alick Lindsay, was also working with Dick and John in his butchery.
In 1971, John Bentley purchased the butcher shop from his uncle, and he carefully followed the advertisement on the side of the store “GOOD SERVICE AND QUALITY MEAT”.
Berowra Butchery continued to thrive under John and he actively supported all the local sports clubs with subsidized meat trays for fundraiser raffles. In return the sports clubs’ members supported Berowra Butchery. He also supported many of the various clubs for their social days by donating the meat to be eaten at their events.
In 1975, John Bentley put on a local lad, Bruce Watterson as a young apprentice to help him and Alick run Berowra Butchery.
On 4th February 1988, John Bentley sold the premises after 26 years working in the business and his last 17 years as owner/operator. As a local butcher John felt the squeeze from the large supermarkets for many years, as they changed the way we shopped. John was forced to follow his friend, Alick Lindsay, across to Woolworths to work in several of their butcheries for the next 17 years.
The shop was purchased by Pearl Wong, who leased it out to Berowra Framing for many years. The building was sold again, and it became a café called C Spot and later Bocelli’s Restaurant. Wellspring Café was opened by Phil Wells from around 2010 and since mid-2016 the popular Wise Monkey Café (owned and managed by Amy Grenfell) has operated out of the old butcher shop building.
Congratulations to Amy and the Wise Monkey team for their recent refurbishment of the café, which looks excellent. This refurbishment work will be shown on Channel 10 in an upcoming episode of “The Living Room”.
CreatorNathan TilburyKeywordsBerowraBusinessBusinessesClick on the image to add
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Nathan Tilbury, The History of the Berowra Butchery and it's Building. Hornsby Shire, accessed 11/09/2024, https://hornsbyshire.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/6403