Pool Cottage Smallholding

Welcome to Pool Cottage Smallholding

The site is about who we are and what we do on our smallholding at Pool Cottage in North Shropshire. We are continually developing the smallholding and diversifying in an environmentally responsible manner, while remaining pragmatic. We would like to be self sufficient just like Tom and Barbara, but true self sufficiency is probably just a dream. However, we keep striving!  More details about our aims can be found on the about us page, and please feel free to look around. Any feedback or genuine enquiries about our smallholding and Pool Cottage activities are most welcome. We introduce just three of the aspects of the smallholding below, but we embrace so much more, so please take time to look at all the other stuff.

Artisan Pixies

Welcome to the Artisan Pixie web pages, part of the Pool Cottage Smallholding. Having retired we not only produce much of our own food, we have diversified into Jewellery making, forging (not money!) and wood-turning. To find out more on each, click on the button below:

Our animals

At Pool Cottage we have a range of animals including:

Oxford Sandy & Black pigs

Shropshire sheep

Savastapol geese

Shropshire Blue chickens

Light Sussex chickens

Welsummer chickens

Ross chickens (table birds)

Aylesbury ducks

Buff Orpington ducks

Kharki Campbell ducks

Indian Runner ducks

Retired Greyhounds

The chickens keep both ourselves and our neighbours stocked with eggs as do the ducks. The pigs entertain and are used in producing our range of charcuterie. The sheep have given us some wonderful cuts of meat and allowed us to make a range of lamb sausages and burgers. The geese are the guards and the greyhounds take retirement very seriously!

Charcuterie

We love food at Pool Cottage and have been experimenting with charcuterie for a number of years. Our creations include:

Pies and pasties

Hams

Bacon (both smoked and unsmoked)

Sausages (so many types)

Pastrami

Burgers

Salt beef

Smokies (a special garlic sausage).

Smoked salmon

Black pudding

Terrines and pate

Air dried Lonza and Coppa

We built and now run our own smokehouse to produce all our own smoked products in-house. We also designed and made our own clay oven for, arguably, the best pizza in Shropshire. Finally, we work closely with the Shropshire based BBQ outfit "Smoked" , who create the finest "low n slow" hot smoked brisket and mutton this side of the Deep South.