High Tide Magazine

Round-Up

Moorland sheep come to Scarborough

Thursday, 06 August 2009

A group of ten farmers, who run traditional flocks of Swaledale sheep on the North Yorkshire Moors, is producing excellent shearling meat, yet it is difficult to obtain it in Scarborough. A new initiative called the Scarborough Shearling Community Supported Agriculture Partnership means that people in the town can now readily enjoy this local delicacy.

Those who join the CSA partnership will receive a monthly supply of locally grown, flavoursome, heather-reared meat, in the knowledge that they are helping to maintain the characteristic landscape of the North Yorkshire Moors through supporting traditional sheep farming.

How the Scarborough Shearling CSA would work

Each member buys one or more shares, equivalent to a whole shearling.
Every month, October to May, members will each receive one eighth of a shearling. Over the course of eight months, each member will receive the full range of cuts of meat; for instance, one month it might be a leg of lamb, another month mince and chops.
On a designated day each month, members will collect their meat, conveniently butchered and vacuum packed, from a central Scarborough location.
Members will be invited to take part in a farm visit and to attend "Shearling Suppers".
Members will receive a newsletter with recipe suggestions and news about the farms and livestock.

Joining the Scarborough Shearling CSA is the easiest way to obtain this fine food. You won't find shearling meat in a supermarket, and it is only occasionally stocked by a few butchers.

This meat is a fine traditional local delicacy, yet few people today have tasted it. A “wether shearling” is a castrated male sheep, between 17 and 22 months of age, which is neither lamb nor mutton. Nearly two years of slow growth and living free on the varied plants of the North Yorkshire Moors (including bog myrtle, bilberries and moorland grasses) give this meat its distinctive flavour, which is very different to that of ordinary grass-fed animals. Locally slaughtered and hung, the fine marbling of fat in moorland shearlings makes superb-tasting meals.

Find out more at www.scarborough-local-food.org.uk or request a leaflet from Madeleine Parkyn by an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone 01723 37 55 33.

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