The Farmers Mart Jun/Jul 2016 - Issue 46 | Page 52

Tetford Longhorns

Tetford Q Guild

Nurturing the cattle
of old England
The Longhorn is Britain’s oldest breed of beef cattle – but it might
have been lost forever had it not been for the hard work of a small
band of dedicated breeders including the late Joe Henson, founder
chairman of the Rare Breed Survival Trust back in 1973.
»»JOE HENSON WAS AN
inspiration to Charlie and
Debbie Sutcliffe, who
established their awardwinning Tetford Longhorn
herd in 1993 in ancient
pastures in the Lincolnshire
Wolds. The herd currently
numbers between 80 and 90
head and over the years has
enjoyed many successes in
the show ring.
Charlie and Debbie are
particularly proud of having
bred two Royal Show male
champions - Tetford Clansman

in 1999 and Tetford Kingpin, a
son of Clansman, in 2005.
All the cattle are purebred.
They are single suckled and
reared out at grass in the
traditional way.

‘regarded as the
true roast beef
of old England’
“I had always liked the
appearance of Longhorns,”
said Charlie. “Their qualities
in terms of milk, calving ease,

52 Jun/Jul 2016 www.farmers-mart.co.uk

longevity, docility, length
and leanness of body are
unrivalled.
“In 1993 they were still a
rare breed; there were less
possibilities and it was a more
expensive business to get
into then. I had the chance
to acquire some Longhorns
so took the plunge. The first
few years I was building the
herd but soon discovered
the quality of the meat they
produce.”
Longhorn meat is regarded
as the true roast beef of old

England. In 2009, Charlie’s
beef was voted ‘Britain’s
Best Steak’ in a prestigious
tasting session run by Country
Life magazine. The Sutcliffe
family now has a High Street
butchers, Meridian Meats, in
the historic market town of
Louth.
Charlie and Debbie’s son
Jim runs the shop assisted by
Debbie. There are two other
butchers, a part-time baker, a
delivery driver and a number
of after school washing up
staff. Some of them have