A TEAM of Bradford butchers with 250 years' combined experience are this week sharing their knowledge as part of a national campaign to help people discover simple ways of creating affordable fresh meat dishes from scratch.

Award-winning butchers at Keelham Farm Shop in Thornton are taking part in National Butchers’ Week activities as the family-run firm recruits extra butchers and other staff and looks to sign up new produce suppliers ahead of opening its new £4 million store near Skipton this summer.

Keelham butchers are among those taking part in ‘ask the experts’ sessions to explain how to get the most from fresh meat. The shop is also running a series of sausage-making workshops.

Staff have received additional training at the Cooking School at Dean Clough in Halifax and are providing customers with recipe ideas and advice on how best to prepare and cook different cuts of meat supplied at the farm shop.

Tasting sessions are focusing on preparing slow-cooked joints to meals using original Keelham recipes, showing that traditional cuts can be easy to prepare and an affordable way to feed the family. They include slow cooked beef brisket - a twist on popular pulled pork - and slow roasted shoulder of seasonal lamb with rosemary and local Denholme honey.