by Dr. Iain
Corness
The
“largest” pork pie manufacturer in Thailand would have to be Norman
Denning. A man who has become well known in Pattaya not only for his
girth, but also for his sense of humour - and his pork pies! He is the
proprietor of Yorkies along Jomtien Beach Road, a haven for those who
crave English food, quality meats - and pork pies.
Norman is a Yorshireman, born in Shipley. His father
was not in the butchery business, but was a storeman in an engineering
firm, while his mother, in Norman’s words, was “a house technician.”
He was a good student by the time he got to the
Secondary Modern school, topping the class in Hygiene, Science and Maths.
He was also quite athletic, representing the school in swimming and played
in the local water polo team. However, like many children in those days,
he finished school just before he turned 15 years of age.
His dream was to be an engine driver, like so many
other boys in those days. He even went so far as to put his name down for
the railways, but while waiting, locomotives changed from steam to diesel.
“It didn’t have the same appeal as steam,” said Norman.
So he looked for another career. His uncle was a
butcher, so the young Norman started a very long apprenticeship. He went
the whole hog (pun intended) and learned butchery, hygiene, slaughtering,
cutting and boning - in fact everything related to butchering - to become
a Master Butcher. That took 8 years of very hard and heavy work. “The
lightest thing was the wage packet,” said the ever wise-cracking Norman.
He was not joking about the wage packet, however. The
poor wages compared to the amount of work (and skill involved) eventually
turned him away from his trade and he went heavy goods driving in the UK.
One aspect that he did enjoy was the travel, a factor that had been
important in his initial ambitions about the railways and driving steam
engines.
He did not leave butchering totally, during this
extended period on the road (eventually this was 15 years), as he worked
for other butchers during holidays and Xmas breaks. He was also saving his
money, and when a butcher’s shop came up for sale in Knaresborough (in
Yorkshire, where else) he took the plunge.
The shop was run down, but Norman turned it around.
“It was through a lot of hard work and my recipes for pork pies and
sausages, and the quality of my meat.”
After 4 years in Knaresborough another shop became
vacant in Bradford and before you look at the map, yes, it is in Yorkshire
too! He seized the opportunity and continued with his hard work, building
up a very successful butcher’s shop during the 14 years he stood at the
block. He brought in a baker to help with the pies, and the orders kept
streaming in. Eventually he was franchising to 18 different shops and
producing the incredible figure of 4,000 pork pies a week. If you want to
break that down, it is over 83 pies an hour over a standard working week!
Not only was Norman working hard, he was playing hard
too. His hobbies were karate and Fell walking. He admitted that he had a
“ferocious appetite” but he was very active. He climbed Ben Nevis, the
highest mountain in Scotland three times in one year. “I just loved to
get to the top for the view.” He was a trim 13 stone, and in his words,
“Fit as a butcher’s dog!”
But all that came to a grinding halt when he had a very
severe fall in 1990 and injured his hip. That was the forerunner of a
crippling arthritis which stopped him doing the physical exercise that he
loved so much. The arthritis progressed and he eventually had to have a
total hip replacement in 1996. The hard work of butchering he felt was now
beyond him. He sold the shop, “It’s now an Indian Takeaway - that’s
about the norm for Bradford,” he said.
Norman had already had a taste of Thailand, having come
here to Pattaya for a holiday in 1991. “It was a bachelor’s paradise,
as I was then.” He returned for more holidays and had made friends here
who asked him to bring over sausages and pork pies, as the said they
couldn’t get a decent sausage or pie in Pattaya in those days. He became
used to bringing suitcases full of pies and sausages through Bangkok
airport.
In 1997, having retired, Norman found that he was
missing the job and needed something to do. His friends in Pattaya all
told him there was a big call for sausages and pies if someone could make
them locally, so he took another plunge, and he and his partner Eileen
(and now Mrs. Denning) set up in Jomtien. They brought with them all his
butcher’s equipment, even the wooden block, and relocated totally. They
needed a name, and what else was there, other than “Yorkies” for such
a dyed in the wool Yorkshireman?
Yorkies’ business is steadily growing - as is
Norman’s stomach, something that he vows he is going to something about
- tomorrow! The weather is kind to his arthritis, and in Norman’s
Yorkshire accent, “I’m happy with me lot.”
He has little time for hobbies, but does like going
out, a social drink and sea fishing when he gets half a chance. He also
likes driving out in the countryside - and getting lost - and then finding
his way home again. He tapped his chest, saying, “There’s a 12 year
old boy in here,” and laughing.
Norman’s advice to the youngsters today is a mirror
of his own experience. “Learn the job. Don’t cut corners. Try to
improve on everything you do. Work long and hard.”
He does have one ambition yet unfulfilled, and that is to go around the
world, including going across Canada by train. Steam train, of course!
