Raisbeck sits on the western side of the Howgills, just over the Cumbrian border but close enough in spirit to count as Dales country. Owen runs 480 Herdwick ewes, hefted to a fellside that his family has worked since the 1880s.
Hefting is the practice by which a flock teaches its lambs the boundaries of its own grazing without any fence to mark them. It takes generations to build and a single bad winter to undo.
Herdwick mutton (Owen finishes the wethers at three years rather than selling them as lambs) is dark, fine-grained and faintly herbal. It is one of only a handful of British meats with full PDO protection, and Owen is one of the few producers still finishing it the slow way.
“You cannot teach a sheep where home is. She has to be born knowing.”