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Beef

Our cattle we use is the Devon Ruby Red variety and are hand selected for us from farms in and around some of the most beautiful countryside of Devon. They are carefully farmed and looked after throughout their lives, before being brought to our shop where the meat is dry hung on the bone for 21 days to mature perfectly and then it is prepared for you by master butchers, selecting and cutting orders specifically for you!

sirloin steak rump steak rib eye steak
fillet steak shin of beef goose skirt
hanger steak diced beef mince beef
blade of beef short rib of beef fore rib of beef
rolled brisket rolled topside rolled sirloin
carvery rib of beef rolled rib of beef LMC braising steak
3 bone wing rib sides of Ruby red beef
sides of Ruby red beef

Ruby red history.

Devon cattle are red in colour, varying in shade from a rich deep red to a light red or chestnut colour. A bright ruby red colour is preferred and accounts for their nickname, the "Red Ruby". The hair is of medium thickness and is often long and curly during the winter, but short and sleek in summer. The switch of the tail is creamy white.

Mature bulls in good working condition weigh from 1,700 lb (770 kg) to about 2,200 lb (1,000 kg). Mature cows range in weight from about 950 lb (430 kg) to about 1,300 lb (590 kg). Thus, Devons have enough size to be practical and profitable without the handicap of excessive maintenance cost.

Calving problems are seldom encountered although a growing stress on using larger bulls has increased the incidence of difficult births.

The functional characteristics of the Devon make them a valuable genetic tool for the commercial beef industry. The breed has long been noted for its fertility, ease of calving, docility, hardiness and ability to adapt to temperature extremes.

Devons are active good "walkers" and are excellent foragers. Their ability to utilize grass and other forages efficiently has heightened their popularity in areas like southern Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand.

In recent years however, the breed has fallen out of favour, as more rapidly-growing continental breeds were in demand by both the farmer and butcher because of their speed of maturity and the quantity of higher-value cuts they produce. However, that meat has always been of a lower-eating quality than that of the slower-maturing grass-fed traditional breeds.

The native home of the Devon is in southwest England, primarily in the counties of Devon, Somerset, Cornwall, and Dorset. The Devon is one of several modern breeds derived from the traditional red cattle of southern England, together with the Hereford, Sussex, Lincoln Red and Red Poll.

The early improvers of the Devon breed were Francis Quartly of Great Champson, Molland, North Devon, and his elder brothers Rev. William (of West Molland Barton) and Henry (d.1840), the eldest, who took over William's herd and lease in 1816. Francis had been left the lease of Champson with its herd by his father James (d.1793) and commenced his work in improving the breed the year after his father's death. At that time during the Napoleonic Wars most of the farmers of Devon were taking advantage of the high prices offered by butchers for cattle, and the best bloodlines of the old herds were almost lost. Francis Quartly had the foresight to refuse to sell his best specimens and furthermore determined on the risky and expensive strategy of outbidding the butchers to acquire for himself what he judged to be the best representatives of the remnant of the old breed. Thus was founded the Champson herd. Francis and William died unmarried but Henry's eldest son James succeeded him at West Molland and his youngest son John succeeded his uncle Francis at Champson. Both became highly distinguished breeders of Devons. Also instrumental in the founding of the new breed were John Tanner Davy (d.1852) of nearby Rose Ash and his brother William (d.1840), of Flitton Barton.Colonel John Tanner Davy, son of John Tanner Davy, founded the Devon herdbook in 1850. In 1884, the Devon Cattle Breeders' Society was founded and took over the herdbook. Today the Dart family of Great Champson, Molland, long established in that parish, continues to breed the descendants of the Quartly herd in their original home. The herd was founded by George Dart in 1947 with animals purchased from the Molland herd, and is carried on today by the brothers William and Henry Dart.