They have also seen periods of slow decline, as the car went on to whisk shoppers away to new out of town superstores. Ironically, Ron served his apprenticeship in a Sainsbury’s classic shop, which is now one of the supermarkets which have hit his business.

You don’t need to decipher supermarket small print at G. Pett and Sons. You know that lamb, pork and poultry are sourced locally, and beef comes from Scotland. However, these days, far fewer great sides of beef are shouldered into the shop, and a lot of the meat arrives already butchered into smaller, less recognisable packages. Many incomers eschew the slower ways of village life, preferring one-stop shopping, except for special orders for high days and holidays – rather like church attendance – and, as a result, the two other butcher’s shops in Rotherfield have long since gone. Gone too are the High Street baker, grocer, sweetshop, mens' hairdressers and petrol pump. Antique shops, though, spring up everywhere.

Ron says: 'We offer the highest quality meat and personal service, but that isn’t necessarily what everyone wants these days. A lot of people prefer to shop incognito, with only the check-out person knowing what’s gone into their basket. We don’t do too badly, though. We are nowhere near survival level. But there is no generation of Pett's coming along who want to go into the business. Who knows whether it will survive after Ray and I have retired.'