Farm Raven Name Hill Farm

Bank Top Mart , Clifton Road , Darlington , Co Durham DL1 5DU Tel : 01325 464529 Fax : 01325 384282

AUCTIONEER , LIVESTOCK AGENTS AND VALUERS Wishing Lucy Savile at Raven Hill Farm continued success

------------ Weekly Sale of Prime Cattle and Sheep Every Thursday

Weekly Sales of Store Cattle and Sheep Every Monday ------------ Agricultural , Tax and Compensation Claim Valuations Undertaken

Chris Berry talks to Lucy Savile at The Old Star in Kilham .

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RUNNING A PUB IS something farmer ’ s wife Lucy Savile never imagined she would be doing but it is working well for her and the family farm beef enterprise is benefitting . Raven Hill Farm , situated just out of Kilham , supplies the Old Star pub in the centre of the village and trade is good .

‘ Kilham isn ’ t a massive village ,’ says Lucy . ‘ Although we are very well supported by local people we have to reach from outside to make it right . We ’ re not on the main Driffield to Bridlington road either so it is our reputation for good beer and good food that is very important .’

The Old Star , like its name , has history . It dates back 300 years and its interior has that typical old world charm of the village pub . Lucy has added character to it with all manner of artefacts either on the walls or embedded into the tables . There ’ s an ancient turnip cutter , pith helmet , a ration book , a letter written by her granddad , the original deeds to the pub and her nanna ’ s Red Cross certificates – and that ’ s just a handful of the many that will keep visitors interested .

‘ We sell a lot of real ale . Theakston ’ s Best Bitter is on all the time along with two guest beers . It ’ s a good cask ale pub and I try to give all of the Yorkshire beers a fair run . We will have Wold Top , Great Newsome ,

York Brewery , Rudgate , Old Mill and others on throughout the year .’

‘ Our food is quite traditional stuff with a mixture of roast dinners from beef , pork , lamb and turkey to a la carte choices including ribeye and fillet steaks , gammon , venison , partridge and ocean pie . We alter the menu every couple of days to make sure there is little if no wastage .’

‘ One of the things everybody comments on is how friendly we all are . I have a really dedicated team including quite a lot of young people and they ’ re all locals too .

We aim for a split of around 50-50 on wet to dry sales . It ’ s been quite a year since last April when the pub came over wholly into our family ’ s hands . It ’ s gone crazy , and by that I mean in a good way .’

Around three years ago when the pub had been shut for eight months three allies came together to get it back up and running . Ian Pick , a chartered surveyor , and agricultural contractor Anthony Smith were initially involved with John Savile , Lucy ’ s husband . They purchased The Old Star from Enterprise Inns .

‘ Without the effort put in by everybody concerned we wouldn ’ t have got the pub to where it is today . Anthony and Ian subsequently decided to come out of the pub investment-

60 Summer 2017 www . farmers-mart . co . uk