THIS week’s photograph and article have been kindly sent in by Kate Crouch, who is related by marriage to the Crouch family.

The photograph shows Harry Crouch and his son Edgar with strawberries they had brought into Salisbury Market from their market garden in Whiteshoot, Redlynch.

This dates from 1920/21 and the vehicle is a French Berliet, which was originally a First World War ambulance - it was green with a canvas tilt and cab and was chain driven.

At this time the Crouch family brought produce from their market garden to Salisbury to supply greengrocers shops.

Later they had their own market stall near Mains seed shop (now Allum and Sidaway).

When Harry retired in the early 1930s his sons bought their uncle Stan Kimber’s fruit business in Butcher Row. They later moved along Butcher Row to No. 18, renting just the frontage onto Butcher Row. The frontage onto the market (Ox Row) was occupied by Wright’s Fish shop.

During the 1950s Edgar and his son Gordon purchased the building and from then on the business used the whole site. In 1963 the building was demolished and rebuilt. While the rebuilding was taking place the business continued at the old Woodrows seed shop in Queen Street (roughly at current entrance to the Cross Keys Mall).

The business continued trading in Butcher Row until 1999, run firstly by Gordon and later his sons Brian, Peter and James. In 1992 a second shop was opened in Flower Court, Amesbury which Peter ran until 2009 when the business was sold.

18 Butcher Row was sold in 2015 to Fullers Inns and is now incorporated into The Ox Row Inn. If you go up the new staircase to the first floor it is hard to imagine it was once full of cold rooms and boxes of fruit and vegetables.