The couple wanted to swap the grime and grind of city living for life in the country, somewhere with rolling hills where they could keep a couple of dogs and eke out a quiet, stress-free life.
That was the Cunninghams’ dream. But what exactly were they going to do in the country, and where between Land’s End and John O’Groats should they settle? Rob, 44, was a live-in builder-cum-developer, which was not ideal given the arrival of Ella, so he didn’t just need a new house but a new job, too.
They thought first of moving to Devon and Cornwall, but prices there were too high and they began to look further afield instead, at a barge business in Wales, and a vineyard, as well as that old staple, running a B&B.
Then Rob’s father, Bill, spotted an advertisement for a farm with a bacon curing business for sale, Maynards Farm Bacon, at Weston-under- Redcastle, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The couple went to look at it, but were not immediately convinced it was right for them. However, during a six-week trek across Canada they had time to reconsider the proposition, and halfway across the country they decided to buy, sending confirmation of their intentions by e-mail.
The Cunninghams paid £600,000 for the farm in January 2001, a price that included the business, a 16th-century four-bedroom farmhouse, 10 acres and outbuildings that housed the original dairy and the all-important smokery. They also took control of the bacon-curing business, which came with three part-time staff.
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“We were excited about buying it because it seemed to match both our backgrounds,” says Fiona. “Although I was managing a gym in London when we met, and Rob was building, I am a chef and was born in Scotland, and he lived in the countryside and was trained in agriculture. It was a good combination.”
Armed with on-the-job training from the former owner, Maynard Davies, before he disappeared into retirement, the couple were relishing the change of pace. It was more dramatic than they had expected. Within weeks of them taking over, foot and mouth disease struck, bringing the countryside, including almost the entire rural meat industry, to a halt.
“We were still able to buy pork,” she adds, “and we were allowed to keep the shop open. But there was generally not much movement of anything in the countryside. Foot and mouth was the biggest hiccup we had.”
But that wasn’t all. “We wanted to revamp some of the recipes,” says Fiona. “The only problem was we made a really bad batch of bacon — it was too salty. It went out to our wholesalers who then ditched us quite quickly.
“We lost all the wholesale customers we inherited, and at that point, with foot and mouth and the loss of customers, our situation looked dire.”
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Gradually, however, they began to acquire experience and decided to call on the expertise of Davies, the former owner and a dry-cure specialist. As part of the original deal, he had agreed to act as a consultant to the new bacon producers in their first few months. Together they came
up with new recipes, new lines all using meat sourced from local, outdoor-reared animals. New state-of-the-art equipment came in, the dairy-cum-factory was expanded, and more staff hired.
Since they have have taken over, the Cunningham’s have increased the turnover sixfold from about £100,000 to £600,000. Their income in Shropshire is more than their joint London income.
When they took it over, the business was a small local operation with most of its trade coming through a roadside shop. Now they sell a wide range of smoked bacons and hams as well as sausages from the farm shop, but also through local farmers’ markets, Waitrose Asda, Harvey Nichols in Manchester, and Rick Stein’s deli in Padstow, Cornwall.
Their foods, like Staffordshire and Shropshire and spiced Tamsworth cures, have attracted national and international acclaim including a much-cherished Rick Stein’s Food Heroes award. Even Derek Cooper, Radio 4’s food guru, has been moved to describe it as the ultimate in dry-cured bacon.
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Regrets? “One of the reasons we wanted to leave was because we wanted a nice quiet easy life in the country,” says Fiona, 41. “It really has been very hard work, and the first year, with foot and mouth, and so on, was pretty disastrous, but it has been exciting and rewarding.”
Meanwhile, Ella, now six, has been joined by Archie, three, and Johnny, two, and the children are having huge fun in the countryside around the old farm. Who wants formal playgrounds and organised activities when there is mud and wellies, and pigs? Not to mention all those bacon sandwiches.
Maynards Farm, 01948 840 252, www.maynardsfarm.co.uk
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