Walls, Liverpool and rabbits

[sarahchristian]

Dear experts,

I am doing some work on the Isle of Man, looking at items transported from our rural railway station in 1939. There were a large quantity of dead rabbits sent each week into Douglas and then to "Walls,
Liverpool". I am assuming other farmers would be doing this too.

Can anyone signpost me on to a source of information, or tell me about this company and its activities?

Best,

Sarah

[dickiesam]

Hi Sarah,
The Wall's company I remember was Thomas Wall's, makers of meat pies and Wall's ice cream. I knew it was owned by Unilever and there was a factory in Bebington, Wirral. I lived quite near. A google search produced the information that, prior to its acquisition by Unilever, Thomas Wall had sold the business to Mac Fisheries. That company was then bought by Unilever.

Mac Fisheries were a big chain of fishmongers and they sold rabbits! I remember their shop in New Ferry. It was on New Ferry Road almost opposite Rowntree's sweetshop which was itself on the corner of Leigh Road! We often had rabbit from Mac F's on a Sunday!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall%27s_%28meat%29

[MaryA]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

What a good memory DS has got, I would never have known that Walls was a relatively local company.

Unilever was quite a large company and I wonder if they have any archives, try to make contact and ask http://www.unilever.co.uk/

[dickiesam]

What a good memory DS has got, I would never have known that Walls was a relatively local company.

What better memories for a kid but the Wall's Ice-cream man riding up our street doing his rounds on a trike with the chiller box over the front wheels... and rabbit for dinner!

[/URL]

[MaryA]

You must have been upper class, we had Pendletons But glad you have these memories to help our poster.

[sarahchristian]

Dear all,

Thank you very much for the information. Lovely to know where all those bunnies went to!

Kind Regards,

Sarah.

[daggers]

Walls made sausages, too - still around?
Eldorado ice cream was a rival to Walls, also sold from tricycles, and became Lyons Maid perhaps, later.
D

[dickiesam]

My Dad taught me how to skin a rabbit. I remember doing my first 'solo' and now wonder if it was a Manx bunny?

[Blue70]

I was on the island last week. While over there I visited a mill that was tenanted by some of my Manx ancestors. On the road to the mill there were lots of rabbits running around in the fields. A Manx born friend once told me that before his family came across his father would regularly go into the countryside outside Douglas to hunt rabbits.


Blue