It's been nearly 150 years since one local family business, that showed "every sign of becoming Britain’s favourite" in its early days, first opened up.
Many households have enjoyed Richmond sausages for breakfast, dinner and tea through the generations. But some may be unaware that the popular brand started from humble beginnings in Merseyside.
The original Richmond sausage was produced at 63 Lineacre Road, Litherland, after Lewis Moore opened a butcher’s shop in 1889. Proving to be a real hit, the business boomed and in 1917, a factory was opened on the same site, producing Oxford beef and Cambridge pork sausages.
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Run by Louis and his sons, George and Alfred, Richmond sausages were named after the Wesleyan Theological College in Richmond, Surrey, in light on the family’s devout Methodism. In the first week of production, the Moore family and one other member of staff produced an incredible 600lbs of sausages — and managed to sell every single one.
An even bigger factory was built in 1930, employing 230 people with vans delivering all over the country. And the empire still exists today.
On November 1, 1963, the East Kent Times and Mail reported: "If you had lived in Liverpool in 1920, and particularly if you had lived in Litherland, you might well have seen a Model T pelting from shop to shop delivering small, neat packages of sausages. You would have noticed it because delivery by van was still an outrageously new-fangled idea then.
"The van was the outward sign of the mushroom success of George and Alfred Moore - who had started the business the year before making sausages at the back of their father’s butchers shop in Litherland. They had started with nothing but some sausage recipes, endless energy and the nagging knowledge that sausages must look fresh to sell and be fresh to look at.
"Hence the Model T - which arrived after they had taken on a staff of three and christened their sausages Richmond." By 1963, there were around 2,000 people making Richmond products and 310 vans keeping up the same "fresh daily" delivery.
First a success in Merseyside, the brand later had countrywide demand and production spread to many other meat products. At the time, the East Kent Times and Mail reported how the the Richmond sausage "shows every sign of becoming Britain’s favourite."
One image, courtesy of 20th Century Images, shows the Richmond Sausage Co. factory on Linacre Road, Litherland, in 1950. You can see a family and other pedestrians outside the site, which was once a known landmark in the area.
Do you remember Richmond in Litherland? Let us know in the comments section below.
In May 1970, the Birmingham Daily Post reported how the Richmond Sausage Company, of Redhill, Worcester, said that its 50-year-old factory at Litherland would close that year. At the time, the management said that the decision came after "a lengthy period of difficult trading conditions in the meat manufacturing trade," but that the company would now concentrate on its other plants at Durham, Evesham and Tunbridge Wells.
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Decades later, the Richmond sausage remains a classic, still enjoyed by families across Merseyside and beyond. Still crafting their sausages today to their traditional Irish recipe, although times have changed, many still remember the brands humble beginnings in Litherland.
For many years, 20th Century Images have acquired original glass-plate negatives, their collection covering the people and scenes of Merseyside in the immediate post-war period of 1946-1962, though it has been extended to include other areas and periods. On their website, there is also a large Maritime section, with Cammell Lairds and the Mersey featuring strongly.
Their archive now includes more than 2700 images. To find out more, click here.
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