Regional Focus: Elveden Estate
Uploaded April 2007

Our love affair with Berkshires started on getting married! We were given two gilts as wedding presents by Gloucestershire farming friends Carol and David Webb. It wasn't only that the Berkshires are the same colour as a pint of Guinness (Ned is a direct descendent of Arthur Guinness, the Irish brewer) but that my family had admired the Webb's pork, bacon and sausages for years. We were thrilled to be given. the opportunity to breed, rear and eat our own pork. The gilts arrived at the very time Elveden's commercial pig herd of 1800 sows, which had all started with a breeding sow given to Ned's father as a twenty first birthday in 1958, was sold off. Our commercial herd was a victim of impoverished commodity prices, and market over-supply. It was perhaps ironic that on a tiny scale, and in our back garden, a domestic herd began to flourish.

We were very lucky that people with excellent piggy knowledge of the breed and of . pigs generally, shared their expertise generously. Following our path to production : we made lots of new friends - the world of the Berkshire is a welcoming one! It has given us huge satisfaction to do our little bit to boost numbers in a rare breed and knowing exactly what goes into our food, where it is from, and working with this delightful breed.

I am proud to say that four years later we have 5 sows/gilts and their offspring. Furthermore, we are looking at introducing two new pure bred sow bloodlines next year.

Within the last month we have opened our Estate Shop Cafe and Restaurant. Our focus is on local foods. We have fresh produce, a butchery, cafe/restaurant and are making our own ready meals from Elveden Estate produce. (The farm grows vegetables and cereals in a very big way with 10,000 acres under the plough.) Our Berkshire pork is proving a tremendous hit with the customers in the shop. All our meat has sold out in preference to other pork and we are hoping that next year we will be producing enough to only stock Berkshire. Equally we are hoping that in some small way we might help to raise awareness about the Berkshire and its' perfect pork!

We are located on the A11 just South of Thetford on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. There is nearly always a traffic jam on this road so if you are ever sitting in it, please pop in and have a cup of tea. The pictures of our Berkies on the walls of our cafe should reassure you that you'll be amongst friends!

Written by Ned and Clare Iveagh