Steve Ramshaw, founder of Northumbria Quality Meats

Jun 14 2010 by Chris Knox, The Journal

IT'S hard to imagine that one of the North East's farmers had previously toyed with the idea of becoming a vegetarian. But Christopher Knox discovers that Steve Ramshaw isn't your average farmer.

TO SAY that Steve Ramshaw’s attitude towards farming is refreshing would be a huge understatement. As well as his passion for producing and selling the best beef and lamb that money can buy he also has a great desire to ensure his livestock enjoy a comfortable and contented life.

His love of all things natural means that on his 9,000 acre farm in West Woodburn, Hexham, the 57-year-old has planted 40,000 trees, and created ponds and a lake. But Ramshaw has not always been surrounded by beautiful rolling hills.

“Being born in the West End of Newcastle, I had no real link to farming – my grandad had farmed in the Midlands but he died before I was born, so I knew nothing of it,” he says.

“Although my mind wasn’t on farming at a very young age, I had a great fascination with livestock when I was a kid as my parents often took me to the cattle market near Marlborough Crescent in Newcastle.

“I’ve always had a real link with the countryside and I would travel to the Tyne Valley each week. One of the things that stuck in my mind at a young age was when I was told I was a farmer but had been born in the wrong place.”

However, he was unable to pursue his natural calling due to the cost and difficulty of setting up a farm from scratch and began work as an apprentice electrician with Newcastle City Council at the age of 16.

He quickly worked his way up the ladder, eventually becoming the senior clerk of works and as such he headed up a number of key construction projects which have shaped inner- city Newcastle, including the £13m renovation of Cowgate in the West End, as well as the modernisation of Cruddas Park flats.

Although he is far more likely to be wearing a flat cap these days than a hard hat, he remains proud of the stamp he has put on the city.

“Being born in Newcastle, it was fantastic to be able to reshape a small part of it for the next generation. Now every time I drive past Cowgate in the car I can say that I helped to turn around what used to be one of the no-go zones of the city,” he says.

Although a few more years would have seen him move up to the position of principal clerk, Mr Ramshaw bit the bullet and followed his dream of running a farm at the age of 40.

He smiles: “A lot of people will think I was mad to give up such a career, especially as I could have gone on to bigger and better things.

“However, I felt as though the career I was doing wasn’t the one I wanted and thought that, as I wasn’t getting any younger, I needed to make the move towards running my own farm if I was going to make a real success of it.”

Ramshaw and his wife Julia bought the land from an American developer and soon realised the size of the challenge they had taken on.

“The whole project involved building access roads, as well as finding the source of the local fresh water spring, which I would never have found if it wasn’t for the help of a local farmer as it was one and a half miles to where we were building the house,” he explains.

“I imagine building a house from scratch on an upland farm would have been a total nightmare for anyone else, but my experience in city planning came in rather handy. Over the years I’ve probably built six or seven houses for myself.”

Without the intention of selling on the meat themselves, Mr Ramshaw began by breeding Scottish Black Faced sheep and Angus cattle and soon realised that with supermarkets dominating the business his new pursuit was not going to make him a millionaire.

“Back then the market was monopolised by what we call commodity products, which are basically cheap cuts of meat that are sold throughout the multiple supermarkets,” he says.

“We had always said that the business was going to be based around quality not quantity, but were finding that our products were being lumped in with these commodity products and there was a lack of distinction between poor and top quality, as well as a lack of understanding among the public.

“For many people it was like going to a garage and saying I want a car without knowing or caring about the model or colour they wanted.”

However, it was in 1998 that he decided to set up Northumbrian Quality Meats after demand from friends and family saw him increase his herd from 10 to 100 lambs.

“Although we operated a traditional farm and sold on most of our animals, we were selling some of the cuts to friends and family and as they got more and more popular we realised the potential for a commercial venture,” he says.

“Northumbrian Quality Meats was launched to supply the very best produce from the Northumberland hills and uplands without being detrimental to the animals and the environment.”

Ramshaw is so concerned with animal welfare that he admits that he toyed with the idea of becoming a vegetarian when he was young and said that even today he can get emotional when taking his animals to slaughter.

“You know, it may be strange to think that a farmer can get emotional when it comes to taking their livestock to the abattoir,” he says. “You have to bear in mind that you have cared and looked after these animals and given them the best life that you possibly can.

“However, I also appreciate the fact that I am giving consumers a choice and putting great- tasting meat on their tables rather than the rubbish they could buy elsewhere, where the animal has not been treated properly.”