THEY have spent the past 40 years in Chirk, but now the family in charge of the butcher’s shop on Church Street are preparing to say farewell to the area.

Mcardle’s family butcher shop has been an ever-present for those familiar with the area of Chirk since 1979, but soon the Mcardle’s will be moving on to pastures new.

After the shop was originally opened by Liverpool-born Steve Mcardle back in 1979, the business grew as it proved to be a big hit with residents in the region.

The family moved from their original smaller shop near the Hand Hotel and continued with their business at their current shop which they moved to in July 1985.

A major refurbishment to the shop in recent times marked 30 years since their move down the road, however founder Steve died last year, which ultimately became a contributing factor to the family’s decision to move on.

Steve’s son Mark Mcardle said: “This place has always been here for a lot of people who’ve always lived in the area.

“We’ve had a fantastic time here building the business over the years. It was all from scratch really – the shop was nothing when we first opened it.

“Over the years we’ve done more and more with the place and added more lines, more products and we’ve diversified where we’ve been able to – it’s become more than just a regular butchers’ shop now.

“Events have turned, and we believe the time has come for us to move on.

“Unfortunately, we lost my dad just over 12 months ago, and I think that’s mainly what’s brought the decision on really.

“We’re just looking for a fresh start now really, we have no plans yet, so we’ll see what happens.

“We never thought this would happen – we thought we’d be here forever, but you never know what’s around the corner.”

Mark’s thoughts were echoed by family member Helen Mcardle, who added: “We’ve always done it together as a family, so it just doesn’t feel the same now I suppose.

“It’s going to be life-changing for all of us really – we’ve all grown up with this shop so it’s definitely going to be different.”

After serving a variety of meat products for more than four decades, the family insist they will leave the business behind with some fond memories, as well as a strong connection with the people of Chirk.

“A lot of customers who have been coming here for years see us as part of Chirk as they’ve always known it,” said Sandra Mcardle.

“We’ll definitely miss the customers. We have a lovely rapport with all the customers, many of whom have been coming to us for years.

“A lot of people are sad to hear we’re leaving here.”

“We all want to extend a big thanks to everybody for their support over the years.

“We are really sorry to go, and we will miss working here every day.

“The customers and the staff here are like a really big family – we’ll miss them all a huge amount.”

Mark also gave a mention to the customers and people of Chirk, saying the support they had received over the years was remarkable.

He said: “The response has been unbelievable. Over the years, the support we’ve had has been absolutely amazing from the people here.

“Particularly after losing my dad, the number of cards and donations we had was just overwhelming.

“The donations to the JustGiving page reached more than £5,000 – and that’s mainly from people coming through the shop door really. It’s just incredible.”

Helen continued, adding: “Some people have come in here as kids many years ago and we’ve handed lollipops out to them, and now they’re coming through the door here as adults.

“It goes to show how big a part of our lives this place has been and how much change we’ve seen.”

The family has confirmed that the shop will remain as a butcher’s in the future.