We’ve spent the weekend processing pork. On Friday we picked up the three pig carcasses from the abbatoir, Broomhalls in Eastington. They fitted snugly into the boot of the car, and while perfectly legal, it’s always a relief not to be stopped by the police with that kind of cargo on board.

Here they are hanging up in the old pantry.

Craig, who lives next door, took care of the butchery business, with the help of his father, and talked us through the different cuts so that we could work out whether to go for more shoulder joints or sausages, and whether to have the belly in roasting strips or for bacon.

The pigs weighed about 55 kilos each.