Butchers in Corbridge: Village Shop, Farm Counters and Hexham Favourites

Corbridge sits in good farming country, and that shows in the meat you can buy locally. The village still has its own family butcher, two farm shops a short drive east have proper butchery counters, and Hexham's market streets hold two of the best-known names in the Tyne Valley. This guide covers where to go, what each place is known for and how they fit around a weekly shop.

When the Hexham Courant asked readers to name the best butchers in Hexham and the Tyne Valley, several of the shops below made the list. It is worth trying more than one, as each has its own specialities.

JD Hall Family Butchers, Hill Street

The obvious place to start is JD Hall Family Butchers at 2 Hill Street, right in the middle of the village. The Hexham Courant describes it as a family business established for more than a century, which makes it one of the longest-running shops in Corbridge. It was among the readers' recommendations in the Courant's round-up of Tyne Valley butchers.

For anyone living in the village, JD Hall is the walkable option: you can pick up chops or mince on the way home without going near the A69. It holds a food hygiene rating of 5 from Northumberland County Council.

Brocksbushes Farm, off the A69

A couple of minutes' drive east of the village, Brocksbushes Farm is best known for its play barn and pick your own fruit, but the farm shop also has a full butchery counter. Its head butcher, Gary, oversees a range of locally sourced beef, lamb, pork and poultry, and the counter sits alongside the farm shop's local produce and home baking.

The shop opens Monday to Saturday from 8.30am to 5.30pm and on Sundays from 10am to 4pm, which makes it one of the few butchery counters near Corbridge open on a Sunday. Parking is easy, and you can combine a meat order with a coffee in the café or a morning in the play barn if you have children with you.

North Acomb Farm Shop, Stocksfield

A little further east, near Stocksfield, North Acomb Farm Shop is a true farm butcher. Robin and Caroline Baty started the shop in 1978, and most of what is on the counter is raised on the farm itself: its own Aberdeen Angus beef, mostly home-bred lamb and its own pork. The shop makes its own sausages, dry-cured bacon and gammon, and sells home-made pies.

North Acomb opens Tuesday to Saturday from 9.30am to 5pm and is closed on Sundays and Mondays, so plan around that. It also featured in the Hexham Courant's list of the Tyne Valley's best butchers, and it holds a food hygiene rating of 5.

Cranstons Cattle Market, Hexham

In Hexham, about ten minutes' drive west of Corbridge or a short train ride, Cranstons Cattle Market is the town branch of Cranstons, a family butchery business trading since 1914 and a member of the Q Guild of independent butchers. The shop at 7 Cattle Market combines a butchery counter with a deli.

It sells prime beef from a nearby farm and Northumbrian lamb, along with North East favourites such as pease pudding, and it is known locally for its hot sausage and bacon rolls. Cranstons opens early, from 7am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, which suits anyone heading through Hexham on the way to work. It is about a ten-minute walk from Hexham station.

Robson & Sons, Hexham

A few minutes' walk away on the Meal Market, Robson & Sons has been trading from the same premises since 1894. Photographs from around 1930 show the Robson family outside the shop with their prize cups, and it remains a traditional family butcher today, supplying households and the catering trade.

Robsons is best known for its sausages, made fresh on the premises every day, and the counter carries beef, lamb, pork, bacon and ham. It also appeared in the Hexham Courant readers' list of the area's best butchers and holds a food hygiene rating of 5.

Butchers or the supermarket?

Most Corbridge households do some meat shopping at the big stores in Hexham, and our guide to supermarkets in Corbridge covers those. The case for a butcher is less about price and more about knowing where the meat comes from, being able to ask for a particular cut or thickness, and buying exactly the quantity you need. Farm counters such as North Acomb can tell you which field the beef was raised in.

A practical pattern for many families is a mid-week top-up at JD Hall in the village, with a larger order from a farm shop or a Hexham butcher when it is needed for a roast, a barbecue or a family gathering.

Tips for buying from a local butcher

• Order ahead for Christmas and Easter. Turkeys, rib joints and gammons sell out, and most butchers take orders weeks in advance. Ask in the shop in good time.
• Check opening days. North Acomb is closed on Sundays and Mondays, and smaller shops may close early on some days. Opening hours change, so check before making a special trip.
• Ask for advice. Butchers are happy to suggest cuts for slow cooking, to trim or bone a joint, or to tell you how long to rest it.

Between the village shop, two farm counters and Hexham's market streets, Corbridge has a better choice of independent butchers than many larger towns.