Butchers bring home the bacon

A village butchers near Wolverhampton is celebrating after clearing the boards at an awards ceremony.

W Maiden and Son Butchers in Stafford Street, Brewood, was awarded four golds and two silvers at the British Pig Executive (BPEX) contest held at the The Malvern Showground.

The butchers won prizes for its pork, ham and mustard sausages, dry cured back-bacon, ham and gammon, pork pies and faggots.

Products were judged by their appearance, texture and taste.

Owner Bill Maiden took over the shop from his late parents and has worked there since leaving school.

The store has a team of eight workers and specialises in homemade products.

Bill said: "We have had meat traders in our family for generations and we've been in Brewood since 1946. We thought we'd do well but it was a real achievement and a good team effort.

"We try to let our products speak for themselves but try to enter the odd competition to let people know we're here. It's not easy to get people to come out to a village."

Last year the butchers won a championship prize for gammon, which Bill says is probably the store's most popular product.

Bill continued: "People take our products to their children who have moved away from home. As we're on the Shropshire Union Canal we get visitors from all over the world. We see the same faces every year, they have their favourites and know the quality they'll get.

"We have Americans and Australians coming in and some even smuggle our food abroad.