JUST like pubs, butchers’ shops have been vanishing from the high streets up and down Britain – a victim of the recession combined with changing fashions and the inexorable rise of the supermarket.

Around one third across the UK have disappeared in the last decade – their places taken by cafes, restaurants and takeaways, hairdressers and the like.

When Howard Jones hung up his apron after more than 40 years as butcher at No.1 High Street, Overton, who would have put money on someone coming along to replace him?

But someone did – Mike Evans of M E Evans butchers, who already has a well-established shop in Wrexham’s market.

M E Evans does not in fact refer to him but to his great grandmother Martha Elizabeth Evans, who established the family butchery business in Wrexham in the 1820s.

Mike heard that the shop in the picturesque nearby village of Overton was to become vacant from a friend, came down to have a look, decided it was for him and bought the place.

That was six months ago, and so far trade has been pretty good, with every sign it will improve.

Crucial to his success was 19-year-old Ben Roberts of Wrexham, who decided against seeking to advance his education in favour of a steady job as a trainee butcher – he is often in charge of the shop in Overton as Mike splits his time between his two shops.

Overton folk are delighted that they still have a traditional high street butcher, and one who has every confidence that he can make a go of it.

But surely, when butchers everywhere are struggling, and Wrexham market suffering declining numbers of shoppers, wasn’t Mike worried he was taking a big gamble?

Mike, who lives in Erbistock with wife Tracey and children George and Harry, aged 14 and nine, was confident that the Overton area was the sort of place which appreciated having its own butcher and that local people would come out and use it.

“So far it has been very promising, we’ve had a lot of good feedback, people have been very supportive,” says Mike.

“I think butchers seem to do better in villages, and village people appreciate their butchers more. And also we are situated between villages without a butcher – Bangor and Penley – we’re right in the middle.”

The shop also benefits from the fact that there is no major supermarket right on its doorstep – the nearest is in Wrexham or, going south, Ellesmere in Shropshire.

In any event, Mike Evans does not attempt to compete at the bargain basement prices of two chickens for a fiver and such like.

That said, prices are not necessarily higher at a butcher’s than in a supermarket, he points out.

But in order to buck the downward trend afflicting so many high street butchers, he knew that he needed to give people a reason to shop with him not the supermarket.

“We source our beef and lamb and pork locally, it’s a great area for that, with some very good local suppliers, from local farmers I know personally,” he says, as we chat over a mug of tea behind the counter.

“We’re trying to source local cheeses, many of which have disappeared over the last 20 years. We also cure our own pork and bacon, right here in the shop. It’s an old, traditional way of doing it, and we hang the meat for 21 days, so it gives it a better flavour and becomes a better product – we do that here.

“We are putting in a window in the next few weeks, you will be able to look at the meat hanging – if you want to!”

As for the bacon, it is sliced in proper, thick rashers in the shop using an antique slicer manually operated by turning a wheel which Mike demonstrates for me.

Mike is also in talks with the local shoots with a view to stocking game: pheasant, partridge, and venison.

To reinforce the sense of tradition, an old-fashioned butcher’s bike is propped up outside the window.

Before long, when the weather gets a bit colder, Mike hopes to hang game up outside the shop, just as the butchers in the old days used to.

That bike is not just for show however, insists Mike.

He hopes to do deliveries before too long using the bike for local orders, with the van pressed into action further afield.

And with that in mind, Mike has a modern innovation up his sleeve – he plans to set up a website for the shop with an online shopping cart so people can place orders and pay for them via the site.

Long term, does he see a bright future for his newly-acquired premises in Overton?

“Yes definitely, we've been here six months now and it is has definitely improved from when we first took over, it is going in the right direction and with hard work and commitment it will get better still I hope,” he says.

“We might even expand in future, I would do if the opportunity arose and the timing was right.”

Why will he succeed when so many other high street butchers have been forced to close?

“That is a good question, I think butcher’s shops are very individual, you have got to be really interested in what you are doing and what you produce and if you have a good interest in producing good food – for instance, we are also looking at making our own home-made pies, and we already make our own black pudding.

“It is endless when you look at what you can do, and we are only scratching the surface at the moment, you can only go so quickly. I think all butcher’s shops have got to be very diverse these days, and be willing to change and react to what’s going on in the community.

“I hope there will always be there, it would be a sad thing if there weren’t butchers.”

Thanks to the expertise passed down the generations in the Evans family, no doubt butchery has a secure future in the Wrexham area at least.

No doubt Martha would be proud of her great great grandson for keeping the family business going so well, especially in the challenging times of today.