SEVEN farming families from Upper Teesdale have joined forces and launched their own lamb brand.

Upper Teesdale Lamb Ltd features lamb from their Swaledale sheep, which thrive in the harsh climate of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty where they farm.

The families were all concerned about the falling returns their smaller hill lambs were attracting but, by selling direct to the public, believe they can give the customer better value while gaining better returns for themselves.

Richard Betton has 280 Swaledale breeding ewes at Watersmeeting. He said: “The main problem is that, apart from Morrisons, supermarkets do not stock as much British lamb as they should and, as most hill lamb is not ready until later in the year, it often gets a reduced pence per kg.”

The Swaledale sheep all live on the heather-dominated moorland and flower-rich meadows and pastures found in Upper Teasdale. The diet provided by the varied vegetation and carefully-selected supplementary feed gives the meat a distinctive flavour, sometimes described as “sweeter”.

Their ability to rear lambs where others cannot also helps to maintain Upper Teesdale’s unique range of plants which, in turn, support the array of wading birds and Teesdale’s vast area of blanket bog.

Mr Betton said: “It is a different taste. We are convinced that it is well worth buying, not just for the taste, but also by eating the lamb, consumers are helping to protect a very beautiful environment.”

Animal welfare is also improved in that the lambs only travel a short distance to F Simpson and Son, local abattoir and butcher.

The lambs are a minimum 14kg and are sold as half or whole. The various cuts are vacuum packed and delivered in purpose-designed thermally- insulated boxes on specific delivery days.

“We did apply for a grant but failed, so this is being funded by the farmers themselves,” said Mr Betton.

“It is a firm commitment and we are setting off in a relatively small way – only sending lambs to meet the order – be-cause we do not want to be over exposed, but we are keen to build the business up.”

Paul Johnson, the chairman, who farms at Herdship Farm, said: “This is a great opportunity to purchase Swaledale Hill lamb direct from the producers and comes at a time when many supermarkets are not even making British lamb available. We believe that we are offering great tasting lamb at a very competitive price”.

Upper Teesdale Lamb is being used by Jon and Bev Dunn, of 1618 in Middleton-in-Teesdale, to make their renowned Miner’s Pasty.

“The Swaledale was the only breed available in the heyday of the lead mining industry, so has the perfect provenance for my product,” said Mr Dunn.

The families behind Upper Teesdale Lamb Ltd are Tom and Kay Hutchinson, Bail Hill; Michael, Dianne and Rachel Watson, Stoney Hill; Christine and Daniel Bell, Cronkley; Stephen Hunter and Hannah Stephenson, Watgarth; Paul and Jen Johnson, Herdship; John and Ann Bell, Valance Lodge and Richard and Dodge Betton, Watersmeeting.

Upper Teesdale Lamb is available to order at uppertees dalelamb.co.uk.