A family butcher on Silver Street since the 1960s, three generations from Tommy Beaver to his grandson Richard Welford. Over thirty-five flavours of sausage made by hand every morning, pies and black puddings baked on the premises, and beef, lamb and pork from named local farms across the Dales.
The sausage wall, the bakery, the Dales meat block, and the BBQ counter. All made or cut here, most of it before the town is up, none of it bought in to fill the case.
Over thirty-five flavours, handmade on site every day in natural casings, the range that earns the etched-glass boast over the door. The Cumberland is the top seller, made to our own recipe and linked by hand. The rest of the wall rotates through specials, chalked up fresh each week.
Pork pies, sausage rolls and pastries baked on the premises by the old methods, with the hot-water crust raised the slow way. Black puddings made daily, and the pork, horseradish and beetroot pie that customers come back for. Nothing bought in to fill the case.
Beef from Michael Atkinson cattle at Kirkby Malzeard, free-range chicken from Soanes, with lamb and pork from trusted farms across lower Wensleydale. Dry-aged on the bone, dry-cured bacon, game and poultry in season. The shorter the journey from field to counter, the better it eats.
Handmade burgers every week: beef with caramelised red onion and cracked black pepper all year, then Lamb and Mint, Pork and Apple and Venison in season. BBQ packs made up to order, plus marinades and the trimmings, for a Dales garden in the sun.
The etched glass over the door reads "Masham’s Award Winning Sausages", and it is not a boast we take lightly. Every flavour is made on site, in natural casings, the meat minced and seasoned and linked here rather than delivered in a box. The Cumberland is the top seller, to our own recipe. The rest is a wall of specials, chalked up and changed with the season.
A taste of the wall, chalked up most weeks:
The shop began with Tommy Beaver, trading on Silver Street as T. W. and D. Beaver, a Masham butcher among Masham butchers. In 1983 his grandson Richard Welford took it on, and has been behind the same counter ever since. Sixty years of the same family, the same block, the same town in lower Wensleydale, on the western bank of the River Ure.
“A traditional butchers using predominantly local meat. We hand-make black puddings, pies and award winning sausages daily.” Richard Welford, in Visit Masham
Tommy Beaver is behind the counter on Silver Street, the shop trading as T. W. and D. Beaver, a Masham butcher among Masham butchers.
Richard Welford, Tommy’s grandson, takes the shop on. Three generations of the same family, the same block, the same town.
The Masham Sausages range grows to more than thirty-five flavours and starts winning awards, until the window can fairly read "Masham’s Award Winning Sausages".
Richard and Dawn and a long-standing team, sausages and black puddings and pies made on site daily, meat from named local farms, sixty years on.
A butcher is only as good as the farms behind it. Ours are local and we name them. Beef comes from Michael Atkinson’s cattle at Kirkby Malzeard, a few miles up the road. The free-range chicken is from Soanes. Lamb and pork come from trusted farms across lower Wensleydale.
We do not sell online, because our prices and specials change too often. But a note here, or a call to the shop on 01765 689269, means your order is cut, made up and ready to collect from 11 Silver Street. For a larger order, the day before is kindest to the team.
A six o’clock start, because the sausages and the day’s baking are made before the town is up. Find us on Reeth Market on Fridays too.
11 Silver Street
Masham, Ripon
North Yorkshire HG4 4DX
Phone · 01765 689269
Email · beaversbutchers@hotmail.com
A few steps off Masham’s Market Square, between Theakston and Black Sheep, in lower Wensleydale on the western bank of the River Ure.
Yes, by phone on 01765 689269, or through the Peculier Masham pre-order service. We do not sell online because our prices and the week’s specials change too often to keep a website honest, but a call the day before means your order is cut, made up and ready when you are.
More than thirty-five over the year, handmade on site every day. The Cumberland is the top seller, made to our own recipe and linked by hand. There is always a wall of specials chalked up, and they change with the season and the mood of the shop.
Predominantly local. Beef from Michael Atkinson’s cattle at Kirkby Malzeard, free-range chicken from Soanes, lamb and pork from trusted farms across lower Wensleydale. We hang and cut on the block here, so we can tell you which field a joint came off.
Both. The shop is open six mornings a week, and our rounds reach Masham and the surrounding villages, Ripon, Aysgarth, Richmond, and Reeth and the Swaledale area on a Friday. You will also find us on Reeth Market on Fridays.
All of them. Pork pies, sausage rolls, pastries and black puddings are made on site, by hand, by the old methods. The pork, horseradish and beetroot pie is the one people travel for.