After almost half a century in his trade, Dunedin butcher Neville Eskrick's body thinks it is time for him to retire.
"My knees, ankles and legs are telling me that 50 years on concrete floors is quite enough, thank you," Mr Eskrick (64) said.
He has put his North Rd, Northeast Valley, business on the market and will retire when it is sold.
Butchery the old-fashioned way was heavy work, he said.
"The carcasses come in in quarters and we cut them up. Not many butchers do it like that any more."
Asked how long a sale might take, Mr Eskrick said "that was a good question".
"There are not too many of us [butchers] left now."
He knew it would "take time to disengage" and was in no hurry.
"I won't be rushing anything."
He said he was not sure what he would do if the business did not sell.
The North Rd shop has been a butchery since the 1890s. Mr Eskrick's father, Fred, bought the shop in 1947.
Mr Eskrick began working for his father when he turned 15, at first in the family's George St store and then in North Rd.
He had never regretted entering the family trade, saying he had enjoyed the work and the customers, most of whom were regulars and "90%" of whom he knew by name.
But it was time to move on, he said.
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