NEARLY 140 years of butchery comes to an end this afternoon when the stalls in Darlington's Covered Market are packed away and Don Manson retires.

Don is calling it a day at the age of 78, having started on Harrison's stall as an order boy, aged 13.

"After 50-odd years, you can imagine it will be a little bit hard to leave," said Don.

"I'm going to miss it all, but especially the customers - I do a lot more talking than selling anyway.

"It is sad. A lot of the customers have been crying - I didn't know I was so popular."

It is not just Don's era that is ending. Because C Harrison and Sons has been selling meat on Darlington market since John Twentyman Harrison set himself up as a butcher in 1869.

Don bought the business from Samuel Harrison, John Twentyman's grandson, in 1986. He has been working it with wife Dorothy, son Keith and daughter Carol, and now granddaughter Lorraine.

Don joined Harrison's in 1940 while still at Albert Road School.

"People would ask for their meat to be delivered, and I had a pushbike with a big metal carrier and basket on the front, and I'd deliver right out into the villages," said Don.

War brought rationing, but Harrison's ensured that customers got what they wanted.

"Absolutely there was a black market," said Don.

"When the farmers came in for Monday market, they'd fetch the butter and eggs in, and it was my job to make sure that nobody was watching."

After National Service in India with the Artillery and in Egypt with the Military Police, Don returned to Darlington, and after working on the railways went back into butchery.