In the early seventies several things coincided that were to map out the future shape of my business.

Early stories of intensive farming methods and industrial food processing appalled us. We were determined to produce as much of our own food on our small farm as possible to feed to our growing family.

Genetic conservation.

In 1974 I became aware of the acute need to conserve the unique genetic material carried by our fast disappearing breeds of traditional domestic livestock. I joined in with the work of the then newly formed Rare Breeds Survival Trust. I had already been keeping pigs, a joke present of a live piglet from a farming friend when I was sixteen started it all, so it seemed logical that I could do most good in this the least glamorous livestock group.

The pigs became somewhat of an obsession, soon I had collected bloodlines from all seven rare breeds and discovered to my delight that my five times great grandfather Sir Robert Peel created the Tamworth breed. We travelled the country exhibiting our pigs at agricultural shows, winning lots of prizes and selling young stock for other people to breed from.

Pioneering the return to traditional meat production.

Soon it became apparent to me that the only way to secure the future of our breeds was to develop a sustainable market for the progeny, rather than them becoming zoo exhibits at farm parks to take them back to what they had been developed for, meat production. The idea had a great deal going for it, old fashioned breeds reared in an old fashioned farming system produce fantastic pork. We do not use prophylactic drugs or growth promoters, but will use a modern medicine in the rare event that an animal is ill, trebling the withdrawal period if it is a meat animal. Our common sense farming methods avoid the situations where treatment may be necessary by good management and low stocking densities. Animal welfare has always been somewhat of an obsession, our farming system takes into account the natural behavioural instincts of the animals, high levels of stockmanship are paramount.

We have had our animal feed specially mixed to my own recipe right from the start, using high quality, uncomplicated ingredients. Recent food scares have proved that principle right time and again! We started by offering half pigs for freezers and were stunned by the response. In 1979 we took the plunge and converted a dairy building on our farm into a butchery and began researching old sausage, bacon and ham recipes. Right from the start we established a stringent quality policy, our products would be of the highest standard that we could possibly achieve. These new lines were eagerly snapped up and our customers were asking for beef and lamb produced to the same high standards.

We enlisted the help of other farming friends who shared our farming philosophy and were experts with their own species, to produce beef, pedigree Red Ruby North Devon cattle, and lambs, also old fashioned British breeds, our ethical buying policy with agreed prices linked to the cost of production plus a sensible margin are still in operation today. Mail order was the obvious way of getting our products further afield as we are deep in the Devon countryside. Early in 1981 we were written about in The Telegraph and received 1500 enquiries during the following ten days!

Sensational food you can feel good about.

As time has gone on so our range has developed, we have added many kitchen ready recipes, innovation has always been a feature of our work. What we are offering is wholesome food made with the best of fresh ingredients, many of them organic. What our customers get is super food they can trust, that is fully traceable and made individually for them without additives or industrial processing. Many of our new products are ready to eat or require minimal preparation or cooking, there are of course still all the meat cuts, we provide a truly bespoke butchery service, if you can describe it our highly skilled butchers can cut it!

Environment friendly.

Recently we have built, on the farm, a state of the art new production facility, up to every EC regulation going, it is energy efficient and soft on the environment. The new farm shop has reclaimed, cast iron arch top windows and is clad with soft rose pink bricks made from local Pinhoe clay. We are still in the same stunningly beautiful Devon countryside that means so much to all of our team. A new bigger kitchen means that we have been able to expand our range to include desserts and so are now able to offer a complete menu. Our basic philosophies are as strong today as they were thirty years ago, I no longer tend the animals myself, a splendid chap called Jonathan has then in his care, but spend much of my time developing new recipes and keeping up with the regulatory paperwork. During the summer it is my joy to have forays out to agricultural shows all over the country to take up livestock judging appointments and I am delighted and honoured to serve the Berkshire Breeders Club as its President.