A WORD ON OUR ANIMALS

We only use rare breed meats for our products, as we believe the taste and eating qualities to be superior to the industrialised factory farmed bland meats available commercially. On our farm we only keep the old fashioned breeds. We have reared these all my life and we develop a close and respectful relationship with all of our animals. The variety of pork that we use is mainly Gloucestershire Old Spot, which is an old breed from the vale of the river Severn. They are white with large black spots and were traditionally kept in orchards. Local folklore has it that the spots were bruises that came from apples dropping on the pigs as they fed. We also use different breeds for different purposes. We use Large Blacks for our sausages, which I have been told is an East Anglian breed, though I am unsure and would welcome any more information. We have also used Tamworths for bacon and Middle Whites for roasting joints and Welsh also for bacon, which has the most marvellous marbling through the loin. We have just bought some Oxford Sandy and Black weaners (January 2007) - check the news board for pictures, which I am told make fantastic roasts and hog roasts. We have also Aberdeen Angus and Jersey cattle on the farm and I would really really like some Longhorns.

Slower to mature, in free-range conditions, our meat is full of flavour and needs no extra water pumped into it or added flavour enhancers. The United Kingdom is recognised globally as having one of the most precious resources of traditional farm breeds of animal due to our early experimentation with agriculture. Its funny because that very experimentation that led to such diversity also led to our being pioneers in agribusiness which was one of the factors that led to the decline in our eating standards and the decline in our small farms as well as the standardisation of our animal breeds. We are now very pleased to be able to breed our own animals - we control our quality and we know exactly where our food comes from, what goes into our animals and we know that they are looked after properly and are happy.