Farming

Pembrokeshire mutton on top of TV chefs’ menu

Published

8 years ago

January 2, 2018

Mutton with menaces: Robert Vaughan (centre front) with Jamie (right) & Jimmy (left) with half-naked Pembrokeshire councillor Sam Kurtz, a worried sheep, and several other unclothed young farmers

GWAUN VALLEY beef and sheep farmer, Robert Vaughan, has put mutton on top of famous TV chef Jamie Oliver’s menu, which features in the current Channel 4 TV series ‘Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast’.

Pembrokeshire hill farmer Robert, who is a member of the Farmers’ Union of Wales, was keen to highlight how versatile and delicious mutton can be and was delighted to show Jamie and Jimmy round the farm.

“Out of the blue one evening I had a phone call from the Jamie Oliver production team to have a chat about my farm and mutton for the new series, with the outlook of possibly coming to see the farm for themselves. I didn’t want to get my hopes up of course. We have done a few TV shows before but it’s a bit like a job interview, you never know 100% if you’re going to be successful. They kept bouncing questions across for few weeks and then all of a sudden we had a confirmed date.

“It was all getting rather exciting but nerve racking also at that point. But I just gave them my story, not pretending to be something I’m not, and showed them round, explained how we farm and for how long we’ve been here. And they decided to run with it.”

Carn Edward meats is part of the north Pembrokeshire family hill farm and comprises of 3 livestock farms working as one under the gaze of Carn Edward mountain, which unites the holdings of Llannerch, Penrhiw and the renowned Penlan Uchaf gardens & tea rooms.

It is managed and farmed by brothers Robert and Richard under the careful eye and guidance of their parents Dilwyn and Suzanne Vaughan.

Llannerch farm is situated on the floor of the Gwaun Valley at its highest point on what was once one of the busiest drovers’ routes and pilgrims way out of north Pembrokeshire. Once home to and farmed by Robert’s and Richard’s grandparents this is where their father Dilwyn was born. Over the years he helped run the milking cows and sheep alongside purchasing the neighbouring un-farmed and neglected Penlan Uchaf.

Many years were spent clearing pasture land of gorse, blackthorns and weeds with the unreserved help of his parents at Llannerch, revealing what is now a vibrant livestock hill farm – built on blood, sweat and tears.

“Before the filming actually started I sent them a few products up to taste in London. I sent them my mutton, and they got back to me and said that Jamie Oliver was impressed by it and came back with all these wonderful ideas of what to do with it. And by the start of May we were filming. Originally the plan was for them to come out and do a taste test of flash frying a loin of lamb and a loin of mutton, and giving it to a couple of people to see what they think. Job done and off they went, but because they were so impressed with the mutton story they came for the full day cooking different things.

“I’m used to mutton but of course if you have never tried it before it is something quite special. It’s really good mood food and Jamie and Jimmy were busy cooking fried loins, pasta dishes with minced mutton, kofta balls and mutton lollipops. It really is worth trying and I can only describe it as quick young people food – and these are really the people we want to target. What is so lovely with Jamie and Jimmy is that they champion the people who produce the food and also the people who consume the food. They’re very down to earth and it was an absolute pleasure and heartwarming experience having them here,” said Robert Vaughan.

Back in the early 1980s, when Robert and Richard were children, farming hit a low point; returns were poor and interest rates high. To help survive and pay the bills farmers were encouraged to diversify. This led Dilwyn to be inspired by his love of gardening, learnt from his mother, to begin to create what is today Penlan Uchaf gardens.

The third farm Penrhiw, which adjoins Llannerch and encompasses the other half of Carn Edward mountain, came up for sale in Robert and Richards’ final year of college and was purchased that year.

So the boys, both equipped with over a 500 year Vaughan family history in the Gwaun Valley, the educational knowledge and inspiration and drive gained from their parents and grandparents and a love for their ‘Cenefyn’ (homeland where born) the story of Carn Edward farms was born.

Today the farm runs as a typical livestock hill farm, with a closed flock comprising of 750 pedigree Lleyn breeding ewes and a native herd of 200 pedigree Longhorn cattle, with all calving and lambing taking place in the spring and all animals pasture grazed. In the harsh depths of winter they are housed and fed on grass silage round bales made in early summer.

In 2001 the farm established their Longhorn cattle herd, a low input pasture based native breed, ideally suited to the extreme weather conditions facing a north Pembrokeshire farm.

Farmers markets and food festivals, along with the gardens and tea rooms offered the opportunity to capitalise on the Carn Edward meat sales growth we all know of today.

“I’ve had to learn how to get the best of the mutton carcasses – you don’t want a big layer of fat on it today because people won’t buy them. Traditionally they were processed fat, making them suitable for lengthy hanging bearing in mind we didn’t have the fridges we have today. So we process our mutton with their working coat on, which means they are leaner and higher in protein and we add value, producing what our customers want,” said Robert Vaughan.

Describing how mutton differs from lamb and why it is worth a try, Robert added: “The texture is different and there so much flavour- it’s almost like the dark meat on a chicken but there is more of it. The sheep had more time to graze and the meat becomes firmer, leaner. You can almost describe it like a good Christmas cake – it needs time and you can’t rush it.

“As an industry we’ve got so obsessed with the spring lamb story we have taken our eye off the ball. We need to keep the bigger picture in mind, as lamb consumption is falling and that’s a concern for us all. So the mutton story is a way of generating a new interest and it is a great way of championing our sheep farming industry.

“The opportunity to share my farming life with ‘Friday Night Feast’ and such great well known characters, was both humbling and a heart-warming experience. As farmers in this climate we need to engage more with our customer and go beyond the farm gate.

“If you’re interested in trying some of the mutton featured in the TV show, you can buy it from our website http://www.carnedward.co.uk/ and you can find me at Farmers Markets on a Monday at Newport (Pembrokeshire) from 9am – 1pm, Tuesday’s at St Dogmaels from 9am – 1pm, Saturday (1st & 3rd of the month) at Aberystwyth Farmers Market and on the last Saturday of the month at Uplands Market, Swansea,” added Robert

Community

Celebrating nature recovery through Cysylltu Natur 25×25

Published

13 hours ago

February 4, 2026

Richard Lewis

A CELEBRATION event was held on Saturday, January 24 in Cwm Gwaun to mark the achievements of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority’s Cysylltu Natur 25×25 project, bringing together volunteers, farmers and staff involved in delivering nature restoration across North Pembrokeshire.

The landscape-scale project was funded by the Welsh Government through the Nature Networks Programme, delivered by the Heritage Fund. The Programme aims to strengthen ecological connectivity and resilience by restoring habitats at scale.

Those attending the event heard about the wide range of conservation activity delivered through the project across the north of the National Park. This has included practical works to restore grazing to Rhos pasture to benefit marsh fritillary butterflies and southern damselflies, specialist work to conserve rare lichens, volunteer chough, dormouse and harvest mouse monitoring, safeguarding greater horseshoe bat hibernation sites, and targeted action to tackle invasive species threatening important sites.

Volunteers, farmers, land managers and contractors played a vital role in the success of the project, contributing local knowledge, practical skills and ongoing commitment to caring for Pembrokeshire’s unique landscapes and wildlife in the long term.

Mary Chadwick, Conservation Officer for Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, said: “Cysylltu Natur 25×25 has shown what can be achieved when farmers, volunteers and conservation specialists work together with a shared aim.

“From monitoring some of our most elusive species to restoring and protecting habitats, the dedication of everyone involved has made a real difference for nature across the National Park.”

Although the Cysylltu Natur 25×25 project is now coming to an end, the important work it has supported will continue. Building on its successes, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority will carry this momentum forward through the next phase of nature recovery work under NNF4 Cysylltiadau Naturiol / Naturally Connected, ensuring ongoing protection and enhancement of habitats for future generations.

Farming

Judicial review granted for hundreds of farmers and landowners in Wales

Published

7 days ago

January 28, 2026

Tom Sinclair

OVER three hundred Welsh farmers and landowners have been granted the right to legally challenge Green GEN Cymru’s ‘unlawful behaviour’ at the High Court.

The collective filed a judicial review application on behalf of the community groups, Justice for Wales and CPRW, on four separate grounds, including claims that the energy company has acted unlawfully and with disregard for biosecurity and the environment, while trying to gain access to private land to conduct surveys for three major overhead pylon routes.

The proposal will see the energy infrastructure and pylons spanning 200 km across Powys, Ceredigion, Carmarthen, and Montgomeryshire in Wales and across the Welsh border into Shropshire, in the West Midlands of England.

Mrs Justice Jefford granted permission on four grounds – including abuse of power and procedural impropriety – during the three-and-a-half-hour hearing at Cardiff Civil Justice Centre on Tuesday, January 20.

A two-day hearing is expected to take place in April 2026, date to be confirmed.

The judge also accepted an undertaking from Green GEN Cymru that it would not enter land using s.172 powers – the right given to acquiring authorities to enter land to conduct surveys or valuations under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 – until an urgent interim relief application hearing can be held.

Natalie Barstow, founder of Justice for Wales, said: “This is a moment of vindication. For months, we have been left feeling unsafe in our own homes and stripped of our power as farmers and landowners.

“This is not a protest against renewable energy; this is about standing up for what is right. Our right to dignity and to have a voice, and for the future of our land, wildlife, and livelihoods.

“Since we began this battle, hundreds of other farmers and landowners across Wales have come forward with similar stories, and we’ve been supported by many generous donations to fund the legal challenge. We knew we weren’t alone in our concerns, but the response demonstrates it is a far wider issue than we initially feared, and why it is so important that Green GEN’s conduct and protocols are properly scrutinised.

“We said we will not be bullied into submission, and this judgment is just the first foot forward in our fight for justice.”

Mary Smith, a lawyer at New South Law, the law firm representing the impacted communities, said: “Holding acquiring authority status does not entitle a company to disregard the limits of its statutory powers or the rights of the people affected.

“The Court’s decision confirms that Green GEN Cymru must be held to the same legal standards as any other public body when exercising intrusive powers over private land. This case is about restoring fairness, accountability, and respect for the communities whose livelihoods and environments are at stake.”

Farming

New rules to make Welsh lamb pricing clearer set to begin next week

Published

2 weeks ago

January 22, 2026

Tom Sinclair

Mandatory carcass grading and price reporting will be required in slaughterhouses from Wednesday, January 28

WELSH sheep farmers are set to see new rules introduced next week aimed at making the lamb market fairer and more transparent.

From Wednesday (Jan 28), slaughterhouses in Wales will be required to classify sheep carcasses and report prices using a standardised system. The Welsh Government says the move will improve consistency in grading, make price information easier to compare, and help build confidence for farmers selling stock.

Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies announced the change during the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) Farmhouse Breakfast event at the Norwegian Church in Cardiff.

He said the measures would support the industry by ensuring a consistent methodology for classifying carcasses in slaughterhouses, promoting transparency, fairness and productivity within the sheep market.

“Our iconic Welsh lamb is celebrated around the world for its outstanding quality and high production standards,” he said. “These measures will implement a consistent methodology for classifying sheep carcasses in slaughterhouses, promoting transparency, fairness, and increased productivity within the sheep market.”

The regulations bring the sheep sector into line with rules already used for beef and pork.

Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales chief executive José Peralta said the changes would allow for greater data capture and analysis and improve transparency within the supply chain.

He said: “The new regulations, which now align with a similar position for cattle and pigs, will allow for greater data capture and analysis to be undertaken and support increased transparency within the sector. As a sector we must seek all opportunities for greater transparency within the supply chain to ensure that choices can be made from an informed position.”

The Welsh Government says the new approach is part of a wider UK framework, with similar arrangements already operating elsewhere.

During his address, the Deputy First Minister also pointed to further changes expected in 2026, including the planned introduction of the Sustainable Farming Scheme, which the Welsh Government describes as a new partnership between the people of Wales and farmers.

The scheme is intended to support the sustainable production of food while also responding to the climate and nature emergency.

The Welsh Government has also confirmed its commitment to financial support during the transition, with up to £238 million committed to the Universal layer and the legacy Basic Payment Scheme in 2026.

Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said: “I would like to reiterate the Welsh Government’s commitment to supporting Welsh family farms, not just in the short term but also in the long run. Our goal is to prioritise stability for the farming industry, ensuring to balance this with sustainability at its very core.”

He added that supporting farmers through the change would be a priority, with consistent advice and support offered across the sector.

Building fairness within the agricultural supply chain remains a key Welsh Government priority, which it says is also integral to food security.