ONE hundred years of traditional butchery are coming to an end with the retirement of John and Barbara Carter.

They are one of the last local links to the days of delicacies such as hot ducks with gravy and of window displays featuring boiled pigs' heads with an apple in their mouths, decorated with margarine piping.

"I remember our bakery, with bunches of sage and marjoram hanging from the ceiling for the seasoning for the pies and sausages," says John. "There was a lovely aroma."

He and his wife, Barbara, have just retired from their business in Yarm Road, Darlington, ending a family involvement spanning 101 years.

"It's very, very sad," says John, 60. "There's a lot of nostalgia with my father and grandfather running the shop."

John's grandfather, William Richardson Smith Carter, came from Sunderland in 1905 to start work in a business run by a German called Mr Ernest. It was in No 2 Yarm Road - now a takeaway - which is believed to have been the first purpose-built butcher's in the town.

It had a slaughterhouse at the back and cellars below for curing bacon. In those pre-fridge days, it also had a pipe with holes in, dribbling cold water down the front window to keep the meat fresh.

When Mr Ernest died, William set himself up in business, buying three properties - one from a retired lighthousekeeper who must have stood out like a lighthouse in central Darlington - farther up Yarm Road.

The business fell into a happy routine. Monday was fry-up day; Tuesday was mince day; Wednesday was half day and Thursday was make-up day in preparation for the weekend.

At 3pm, people would start queueing, and at 4pm the "ducks" would emerge from the ovens. They cost 1d each, another 1d for peas pudding and you had to bring your own plate if you wanted some gravy as well.

"Grandmother Elizabeth used to bake them in her little oven," says Barbara.

"They'd be queueing right round the block for them, and the hot pork shanks, and that didn't stop until the 1980s."

These were the days when full carcasses hung in shop windows. For the 150th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1975, John and his father - a second William - created a locomotive out of meat: a joint of sirloin for the engine, brisket for the wheels, black pudding for the funnel and domes made of brawn. It was flanked by a couple of glazed pig's heads.

"They had a margarine-based dressing on them, but there were some secrets added to make it stick," says John.

"It comes from the old era when every shopkeeper set their window out properly. It's a shame that you aren't allowed to do it anymore."

Times have changed. No longer does a butcher have to get up at the crack of dawn to select his meat at the cattle market; now it comes pre-slaughtered from a supplier. No longer can you display cooked meat alongside raw meat - health and safety has seen to that.

"The best thing about retirement is going to be able to wear a watch and my wedding ring," says Barbara, who married John - and the family business - in 1970. "They're considered a health risk."

"The new owners are getting in three computers," says John. "Just give me a knife."

The new owners are Gerald and Carol Williamson, who have a farm near Bishop Auckland and a shop in Crook.

Because the family name is so well known, "Carter" will continue above the door even if, for the first time in 101 years, there aren't any Carters behind the counter.