50 HIGH HURST FARM AUG / SEP 2020 • farmers-mart . co . uk
north of Scotland , which is an excellent way to help protect the gene pool . You would think this is a strong source of revenue - you would be wrong . The rare breeds do not have a high sale value , so the whole conservation side is most definitely a labour of love . As these rare breeds grow and word spreads about meat quality and taste , so demand and prices will rise . So , Robin ’ s plan was to sell for meat all those not perfect for the breed conservation project . Given the quality of the animals , Robin needed to find an outlet that understood this and would be interested in buying at a fair price . With her research head on , and after some time , Robin came across
Lake District Farmers , who looked very promising as they were developing their wholesale and online retail meat business by sourcing the best quality meat possible from sustainable farms in Cumbria .
Robin emailed them and MD Dan Austin came to see them and assess what they had to offer . Dan immediately warmed to High Hurst when , on coming to the front door , he was almost run over by four excited , happy piglets who were enjoying a spot of hand-rearing inside . Needless to say , a relationship was formed . Dan was extremely impressed with High Hurst and the quality ; even though High Hurst is one of their smallest suppliers , much of what they supply goes into some of the top restaurants in the country . Indeed , as Phil Scott told me , LDF often look for specific outlets when High Hurst meat comes in , particularly if it ’ s Berkshire Pork . LDF make all the conservation possible as they pay an agreed fixed above market price for the meat , which enables Robin and Andrew to plan finance much better .
Although the revenue from LDF is a vital part of High Hurst ’ s business and they have a great working relationship , it can ’ t fully contribute to the self-sustaining business model simply because herd sizes can only be small due to the amount of land they have and the fact that the land is also rotated .
Here we come to the final piece in this carefully developed business jigsaw . The Lake District and Cumbria is a hugely popular tourist area with many picturesque views , towns , and villages . So , it made perfect sense to utilise one of their buildings into a holiday let . It is attached to the main farmhouse which , incidentally , dates back to the 18th-century . Guests can tour the farm and meet the animals and enjoy the nearby river Duddon , which is a spate river . They have had Customer Satisfaction Awards for the past four years . Just recently , Andrew has been working on fitting out a luxury shepherd ’ s hut . So , if you are looking for peace and tranquillity and love animals , High Hurst is just the right place to go .
Although Andrew only retired from the RAF in 2019 , he has been 100 % involved where possible . Most of the renovation work has been done by Andrew , hugely helped by his retirement retraining in the RAF which involved courses and qualifications in all aspects of the key building trades .
Andrew ’ s retirement from the RAF was an enormous boost for Robin to have someone on site with her full time . Robin has been on an incredible six-year journey to establish High Hurst , building herds and flocks , managing knife-edge finances on a daily basis , as well as the holiday let side . There have been times that have tested her mettle , her will to plough on has been unswerving . Andrew ’ s RAF ‘ Can Do ’ approach has been a great support as well .
COVID 19 has been a challenge they could have done without ; because of overnight crash in demand that affected LDF , so it knocked on to Robin and Andrew , they had to sell two home grown sows and a third one went to another farm - Robin did say , “ if you change your mind ring me ”, and lo and behold , four weeks later she had a call from the farmer who found she just couldn ’ t cope and happily the third sow returned .
Although it has been a tough journey , it has been an enjoyable and rewarding one , with many highs along the way . A joy to see the breeds develop and grow . They even had a visit from James Martin on his Highlands and Islands Tour , and he did some open-air cooking amidst some horrendous Cumbrian weather . This came about as LDF supply many top chefs who really value rare breed conservational meat . Another visitor and now firm friend is Clare Smyth MBE , owner of CORE restaurant in Notting Hill and previously Chef Patron at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Hospital Road .
So , now that the business is established and has achieved self-sustainability , with Robin and Andrew working 100 % as a team , is it time to relax ?
What ? Oh no , as I said earlier , Andrew has just about completed the shepherd ’ s hut ready to let , they are converting another outhouse into a small holiday cottage and , ever keen to give something back , Robin is planning to hold smallholding workshops for independent smallholders and for those considering getting one .
High Hurst Farm clearly has a great future and we wish Robin and Andrew continued success .