A T Welch, Nantwich

Can you recommend a good pork butcher, a good grocer/delicatessen, an interesting free museum and a good coffee shop? I can, and they're all in one place.

A. T. Welch on Hospital Street was established in 1922 and bought by Bill and Bronwen Austin in 1966.  Bronwen was the daughter of M. G. Williams, the well-known Holmes Chapel grocer to be mentioned in another blog soon. Their sons, Roger and Stuart run the business today.

It's a very long and narrow shop, it's 12ft at the widest point but covers 2,800 square feet - so many people don't realise how big it is until they go inside.

As you go in there's a counter selling pork, bacon and gammon, sausages and cooked meats and delicatessen. You then work through the grocery section where you can buy amongst many other things Wilkin and Son's Tiptree no added sugar fruit spreads. In the dairy cabinet is a good selection of Longley Farm of Holmfirth products including their delicious Jersey extra thick double cream. There's lots of things you don't see elsewhere, like whey butter. 

There's a selection of freshly roasted coffee from Adams and Rusell, which can be ground as required.

At the back is a cheese counter selling the excellent Appleby's of Hawkstone Cheshire cheese and Patchwork pâté.

Just before the cheese counter you walk through Austin's Yesteryear Grocers Shoppe, where you can see Bill Austin's collection of items from old grocers' shops. 

By this time you're probably ready for a drink and a bite to eat, which is just as well as you'll now be in the coffee shop where you can try many of the specialities available for purchase in the shop.

The shop is open Tuesday to Saturday (see website).

A T Welch
45 Hospital Street
Nantwich
Cheshire
CW5 5RL

Tel: 01270 625491

Web: www.atwelch.co.uk