Ted’s tasty career
• Ted Whelan has been a butcher for more than 50 years.
By Daisy Baker
February 24, 2021
As a young boy, Ted Whelan had his heart set on becoming a pushbike mechanic because it centred around his love of repairing bicycles.
When he left school at 15 in 1968 and was hunting for a job, he was offered some work at the local butchery.
Mr Whelan was reluctant to take the offer because of his dislike for blood but decided to give it a crack anyway.
“I adapted to it and went from there. I ended up signing an apprenticeship after some time,” he said.
53 years on, he’s still in the trade working for the same Scottsdale business, McLennan’s which has gone through several changes in ownership during that time.
“The shop used to be down the street at the front of Letterworks. Merv McLennan had it – it was called McLennan’s butchery but Merv only rented the building down there,” Mr Whelan said.
“He bought this block here plus the one next door and built this shop.
“The idea of the shop next door was for a delicatessen but that never worked out because he ran out of money so he had to sell that building.”
Eventually Mr McLennan sold the butchery to a man from George Town, Harold Stott.
“Me and Lionel Mountney, we worked for him and he was a real hard task master,” Mr Whelan said.
“Word got out that I was looking for another job and in the end he offered us a kind lease agreement so we took it over.”
Mr Whelan ran the butchery alongside Lionel for some years before buying him out around 10 years ago.
Lionel however has been no stranger at the shop and has continued to help out over the years from time to time.
Mr Whelan said when he was a young boy, Scottsdale was buzzing with plenty of jobs available at the factory and the mills, as well as extra odd jobs to give families some extra money.
“On weekends there’d always be paddock work around for the farmers,” he said.
“I was really fond of my dad and I used to sit at the end of the paddock and he’d work a draught horse which you’d use to drill holes to plant spuds and that sort of thing.”
Mr Whelan takes pride in the many washup boys he has had through the shop working after school over the years, who have all gone on to secure jobs – some as butchers while others have ventured to different industries.
Ted said butchery has changed a great deal since he first started.
“There was no such thing as having your loin chops cut off like they are today, you’d have them in a cabinet in a line and if someone came in for six chops you’d cut them off with a meat cleaver. These days we do it with a bandsaw,” he said.
“In those days we had an old wooden chopping block, they’re outlawed now.
“Same with a lot of your steaks, you’d keep them in a cabinet and slice them off as people wanted it.”
The variety available has expanded too, with far more poultry available nowadays as well as diverse items including chicken parcels and kebabs that were previously unheard of.
As part of a butchers’ group Mr Whelan has travelled across Australia and overseas many times for competitions through which he has made a lot of friends.
Trips have included New Zealand, London, Mount Isa and several visits to both Perth and Sydney.
When asked about his favourite cut of meat, Mr Whelan replied that he loves T-bone, and while their best seller is scotch fillet, he said he “wouldn’t pay two bob for it”.
Outside of work, Mr Whelan has spent much of his time playing lawn bowls, which he took up in the late 80s.
“It was something I was always going to play. They had beginners’ days and this particular day me, two former butchers and someone else got up enough courage to go to the beginners’ day,” he said.
“Out of the four I was bloody hopeless and the others went alright.
“Come the next week the bowls sides were in the paper – the other three got a game and I didn’t get a game. Come the Saturday they’d pulled out so I got called up and ever since then, I’ve kept playing.”
He said he started off at a low level and has improved over the years.
Through the sport Mr Whelan said he has made a lot of friends, and enjoys returning home from a game to have a stubby.
He said one particular highlight was winning a state final in Ulverstone, after which his team stopped into the Penguin Bowls Club who put them up with breakfast and tea.
Mr Whelan said a career as a butcher has treated him well but now in his late 60s, he plans to retire in the coming years.