A family farm in Llanedi, Carmarthenshire.
Traditional meat, farmed the traditional way.
Traditional meat, farmed the traditional way.
Our farming story began in Worcestershire, where generations of our family worked the land before we moved west. Today Pen-Y-Waun carries that same heritage forward in Carmarthenshire. While much has changed over the years, the principles we farm by have remained the same: respect for the land, care for our livestock, and a belief that quality comes from doing things properly rather than taking the easy route. Every decision we make is guided by those values, allowing us to produce food we are proud to put our name to.
Every animal is born, raised and finished here. Our beef is 100% grass-fed — no grain, no shortcuts. We work with rare and native breeds — Wiltshire Horn and Hebridean sheep, Dexter cattle and Tamworth pigs — chosen because they suit our land and produce meat of exceptional quality. These traditional breeds have been selected not only for their flavour and eating quality, but also for their hardiness and their ability to thrive naturally across our pastures and herbal leys. By farming this way, we can maintain high welfare standards while preserving breeds that have been part of the British countryside for generations.
From the moment our animals are born to the moment our meat reaches your table, every stage of the journey happens with care, attention, and a commitment to producing honest food without compromise. Boxes are built around what customers actually want, from a whole pig for the freezer to a couple of steaks for supper — a personal service rather than a production line.
The animals that make Pen-Y-Waun.
From the ginger-red Tamworths rooting through the paddocks to the Dexters grazing the lower pasture, every animal here has room, routine and time.
Born and grown on grass.
Our Dexter cattle are born and grown on grass — 100% grass-fed, from the first day to the last. They are one of the oldest and smallest native British breeds, hardy and thrifty, and perfectly suited to the pastures, herbal leys and lush river valleys of Llanedi. Calves are born outside in the spring, stay with their mothers, and grow up slowly on the same pastures they will live on for life. We believe cattle should be allowed to grow naturally, at their own pace, with the freedom to graze as they were intended, producing healthy animals that are well suited to the land they call home. Dexter cattle have been valued for generations because of their ability to thrive in challenging conditions while producing exceptional beef from a natural grass-based diet.
The Dexter is a traditional British breed known for its hardiness, efficiency, and excellent temperament. Their smaller frame allows them to move easily across uneven ground, and makes them particularly well suited to small farms and pasture-based systems. They are naturally good grazers, making the most of the grass and forage available to them without the need for intensive feeding. Their ability to thrive outdoors throughout the seasons is a reflection of the breed's history and the careful selection of animals that have adapted to Britain's varied landscapes over centuries.
We never grain-finish or rush them. Instead, they move through a rotation of our best grass leys, herbal leys and permanent pasture, building condition naturally and developing the fine marbling that gives Dexter beef its deep, sweet flavour. Their compact size means they do less damage to wet ground, and their gentle nature makes them a pleasure to work with. Careful rotational grazing also helps us look after the land, improving soil health and making the most of our pastures throughout the seasons. The result is beef with exceptional depth of flavour, fine texture, and the distinctive character that only comes from cattle raised slowly on a natural grass-based diet.
Dexter beef is prized for its tenderness, rich flavour, and fine texture, with a natural balance of lean meat and marbling that gives it excellent eating quality. Because the cattle grow slowly and naturally, the flavour has time to develop, creating beef that reflects the pasture, seasons, and landscape it comes from. Every animal at Pen-Y-Waun is raised with patience and care, allowing the breed's natural qualities to shine through rather than relying on intensive systems or shortcuts.
Outdoor-reared, ginger and curious.
One of Britain's oldest pig breeds — unmistakable in a Welsh field. Ours root, wallow and farrow outside, with proper arks for shelter and litters raised by their mothers, the way it should be. Their distinctive ginger coats, inquisitive nature, and natural hardiness make them perfectly suited to life outdoors, where they have the freedom to express their natural behaviours. We believe pigs should be able to root in the soil, forage through pasture, and enjoy fresh air throughout their lives, producing healthier animals and better-quality pork. Allowing them to live naturally means they can follow their instincts, from turning the earth with their snouts to exploring new areas of pasture, creating a slower and more respectful approach to pig farming.
Tamworths are hardy, active animals that thrive on pasture and woodland. Their slow, outdoor rearing gives the pork a deeper flavour and firmer texture than intensively raised meat, with good fat coverage that bastes the meat naturally as it cooks. We keep them in family groups so they can dig, graze and socialise, which makes for happier pigs and better meat. Their ability to thrive outdoors, even in challenging conditions, is one of the reasons this traditional breed has been valued by farmers for generations. By giving them space, time, and a natural diet, we allow the meat to develop the depth of flavour and character that the Tamworth breed is famous for.
Rather than rushing them through intensive systems, we allow them to mature naturally, giving the meat the rich flavour and character that this traditional breed is renowned for. Every pig raised at Pen-Y-Waun is cared for from birth onwards, ensuring that welfare, quality, and traceability remain at the heart of everything we do. From carefully prepared sausages and succulent chops to slow-roasted joints, every cut reflects the life the animal lived — outdoors, naturally, and on Welsh pasture. It's a traditional approach built on patience, respect, and a belief that the best pork comes from pigs that have been given the freedom to live properly.
Small, black and unmistakable.
Our Hebrideans are one of Britain's true native breeds — jet-black, often four-horned, and hardy enough to thrive on rough Welsh grazing where modern sheep would struggle. They're a landrace flock, unchanged for centuries, and every animal earns its keep. Their natural instincts, sure-footedness, and ability to flourish on poorer grazing make them perfectly suited to our landscape, where they play an important role in maintaining the health and character of our pastures and herbal leys while producing exceptional-quality meat. These resilient sheep have evolved to survive in some of the toughest conditions, requiring little intervention while making the most of the natural resources available to them.
Their distinctive appearance and ancient genetics are part of what makes them such a special breed. By allowing them to graze naturally across our hills, they help preserve a traditional way of farming that has existed for generations. Their ability to thrive on rough pasture means they are perfectly matched to the land at Pen-Y-Waun, where they can roam freely, behave naturally, and contribute to a more diverse and balanced farm environment. Caring for a rare breed like this is about more than producing great meat — it's about protecting a piece of agricultural heritage for the future.
Slow-growing and lean, they produce a darker, mineral-rich meat with real depth of flavour — closer to game than commercial lamb. It's a taste you simply cannot get from a standard supermarket cut. Because they mature naturally on grass and browse, the meat develops its distinctive character over time rather than through intensive feeding. The result is lamb with a firm texture, rich flavour, and a true sense of place that reflects the land on which it was raised. Every cut tells the story of an animal that lived outdoors, grew slowly, and was raised with care.
The self-shedding hill sheep.
The Wiltshire Horn is one of the oldest native breeds in Britain — famous for shedding its own wool every summer, which means no shearing, no stress and a healthier, lower-input flock. They thrive on our lean Welsh pasture, take care of themselves in all weathers, and lamb easily outdoors. Their hardiness, strong maternal instincts, and ability to flourish on grass alone make them perfectly suited to our farm, allowing us to work with nature rather than against it while maintaining high standards of welfare throughout the year. They are a traditional hill breed with the resilience to handle the changing Welsh seasons, from wet winters to warm summer days, while continuing to graze naturally across our pastures.
Their self-shedding nature is just one of the qualities that makes the Wiltshire Horn such a special breed. By avoiding unnecessary interventions and allowing them to follow their natural cycle, we can maintain a flock that is both low-impact and well adapted to our landscape. These sheep require fewer inputs while still producing strong, healthy lambs, making them an ideal choice for a farm focused on sustainable, traditional methods and responsible livestock management.
The lamb they produce is sweet, tender and clean-tasting — the kind of quiet, honest flavour that comes from an animal that has lived a proper outdoor life on grass. Every lamb is born, raised, and finished here at Pen-Y-Waun, giving us complete control over quality and traceability from start to finish. It's a simple approach built on traditional farming, careful husbandry, and the belief that exceptional lamb begins with animals that are allowed to live as naturally as possible.
A quiet hand about the farm.
Not every farmhand at Pen-Y-Waun has two legs. Esmeralda, our working horse, is part of daily life here — steady, patient, and as much a part of the farm as the hedgerows and pastures that surround us. She is a familiar sight heading out across the fields at first light or making her way home as evening falls, quietly getting on with the day's work without fuss.
Sheep are naturally less unsettled by a horse than by noisy machinery, making it easier to handle them with as little stress as possible, while her sure-footedness allows us to travel across the land without leaving deep wheel ruts in wet pastures or disturbing the landscape with engine noise. Instead, the quiet rhythm of hoofbeats across the fields reflects a slower, more traditional way of farming. Although modern machinery has its place, there are still many tasks where patience, skill, and a good horse are the better choice.
Esmeralda is a recent arrival, and she has already settled in as a dependable member of the team and a much-loved part of the family. At a time when horsepower has largely been replaced by machinery, we're proud to bring traditional horse-power back to the land.
Open Wednesday to Saturday.
Wednesday to Friday, 9am–4pm. Saturday, 9am–3pm. Drop in for a chat and pick up your meat straight from source — we can build boxes to order or dispatch nationwide.