Hello, we are Lesley and Malcolm Gough, lucky owners of Chater Valley Farm, a small 40-acre farm in the heart of Rutland overlooking the beautiful Chater Valley. We breed pedigree, rare-breed animals including Hereford polled cattle, and a variety of rare-breed pigs such as Saddlebacks, Gloucester Old Spots and Mangalitzas. The story of Chater Valley Farm began 20 years ago when the site was just ploughed fields and four acres of woodland on an ancient site. Over the years, the fields have been slowly turned into pasture and thousands more trees have been planted. Eventually - eight years ago - the farmhouse was built in typical Rutland red brick. This involved shifting literally hundreds of tonnes of bluish clay to make for a flat building site on the gentle slopes of the valley. 

It was love at first site, the moment we saw Chater Valley Farm. We realised that the building and land would help us to realise our vision of a working farm. From the outset, we wanted to combine 40's style frugality and 70's style good life ethics to meet 21st century demands for healthy living, cheaper meals and locally sourced food. We drew up a list of guiding principles to help us create the lifestyle we were looking for. They are: sustainable, natural, self-sufficient, local, economy of effort and fun. Our vision sees a farm with low running costs - supplying its own energy - with closed

herds of rare-breed cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry, providing quality livestock and succulent rare-breed meat. We chose the animal breeds for their docility and good temperament, as our future plans include the provision of an educational and supportive environment, for children and families including those having to cope with autism.  

 

Please enjoy the rest of the website. If you wish to get in touch, please call Lesley or Malcolm on 01780 720660.