Farmers back local abattoir calls

Locally-produced food is becoming a big selling point with consumers, but in the Shropshire town of Bishop's Castle, animals have to be slaughtered at abattoirs up to 100 miles away.

Jack Limond wants to tell his customers where their food was reared

Now farmers, pub owners and other investors want to reopen their local abattoir in Shropshire, as Midlands Today science and environment correspondent David Gregory discovered.

AE Housman in his poem A Shropshire Lad called Clun "the quietest place under the sun" and on a baking hot July day it is hard to imagine a nicer place to be.

On the drive here you pass plenty of sheep and cattle but the menu board at the White Horse Inn is not as descriptive as it could be.

There are plenty of steaks and chops to be had and you might wonder if they had come from the rolling hills around you.

But the simple truth for publican Jack Limond is he just does not know.

Huge desire

"There's stock around everywhere and yet I find it difficult sourcing meat from here in the valley," he says.

The truth is if a walker comes into the White Horse Inn, tucks into a steak and praises it to high heaven then Mr Limond cannot tell if it was local meat and which farm it has come from.

Farmer Malcolm Corfield is among those trying to reopen the abattoir

It also means he cannot put in a repeat order and be certain he will get the same quality of meat.

There is a huge desire for local food, from customers, to pub and restaurant owners to farmers.

It is a big selling point. Local food means reducing food miles, fresher produce and thanks to high fuel prices it also means lower transport costs which boost the bottom line.

But in Clun and other towns and villages around Bishop's Castle, in south Shropshire, locally-sourced meat is a problem.

Farmer Malcolm Corfield lives a few miles away from Clun.

Locked gates

"It seems stupid to have local meat if the animals have to be shipped 80 to 100 miles to an abattoir and then brought back. It just doesn't make any sense."

The missing link of this particular local food chain is found on an industrial estate in Bishop's Castle.

I peered through the locked gates at the town's former abattoir that was abandoned and closed a year ago in the last foot-and-mouth crisis.

The refrigerated trucks still stand with their doors open waiting for carcasses that are not coming.

Advertisement

The push comes in light of the closure of an abattoir in Bishop's Castle

This was the last abattoir to be built in the UK. It's medium sized and unusually can take sheep, cattle and pigs.

Now a community of farmers, pub owners and others are coming together to try and reopen the plant.

Matt Mellor is another investor in the new business.

More investors

He said: "A plant this size is perfect for locally-produced meat. We've had a study done and they agree it could make money."

If the plant reopens it will allow farmers to take a few, easily-traceable animals for slaughter.

Clearly labelled, the farmers can build a brand and add value. At the moment that is just not possible when slaughtering at the bigger abattoirs further away.

The investors are still looking for more people to come on board.

And when things are up and running Mr Limond is looking forward to describing the steaks on his menu in as much detail as he already describes the thirst-quenching local beers behind his bar.