As a first generation Canadian, I do what many of us do, and find comfort in the traditions of my family history. For me, it mainly involves food. In particular, beef.
My Grandfather Herbert Joseph Buckworth was born in 1905 in a flat above his father’s butcher shop in London, England. His father closed the shop to serve in WW1, and moved the family to Canterbury after the war ended. in the butchery business at Eastman’s on Canterbury’s high street, and ended up opening their own shop on a prominent corner in 1930, which my grandfather eventually took over.
Men were dispatched on bicycles to deliver the meat, direct to their customer’s doors, and some, according to my father John Buckworth (turning 90 this year), “placed roasts right into their homes and ovens while families were out at church.” My father worked parttime at the butcher shop while he finished school, and reveled in driving the iconic company van, which family lore has him flipping it once, spilling meat into the streets of Canterbury.
My Dad left England in 1957 to emigrate to Canada, where he worked as a Chartered Accountant and Bankruptcy Trustee until his retirement. But he kept his love of beef and his family’s history, and we visited Canterbury several times while I was growing up, stopping at the butcher shop and stealing candy from the front counter.
When the butcher shop was eventually sold, my father’s brother, Roland Buckworth, opened up a sandwich shop next door to the iconic corner location, where he served up many roast beef sandwiches. The original store went through several incantations, and today it’s a hair salon, that my two youngest kids and I visited during a trip to Canterbury in 2019.
Beef is in my bloodline. It’s still the preferred Sunday meal for my parents, myself, and my sons. I can see my Dad, when we lived in Winnipeg, opening the garage door against the -30 winter elements and barbecuing a steak on a Saturday night. We still enjoy a beef fondue after a ski weekend at the cottage.
And I’ll never forget the sight of my Grandad in his white or striped butcher apron behind the meat counter in that tiny corner shop in Canterbury.
Kathy Buckworth is an award winning writer and author of six non-fiction books focusing on family life. She is a parenting and grandparenting expert on Breakfast Television (Toronto), CHCH Morning Live, and a frequent guest on Global and CTV morning shows. She lives in the Toronto area and has four grown children, and four grandchildren. Find out more at www.kathybuckworth.com
