Creator of BattleBanger wins award

Alistaire Ray’s pork products swept the board at the British Pig Executive regional awards winning Gold, Silver and Bronze.

Newly wed Alistaire puts the success down to wife Petrina who persuaded him to enter.

He said: “This was totally new territory for us we have never entered any competitions before but thought we would as a bit of fun, and ended up winning .

“I am really delighted to get that recognition.”

It is all part of an amazing change of fortune for Alistaire who has been a widower for the past five years.

He said: On March 18 last year my future wife and her son walked into my shop to purchase a bone for their boxer dog,

“I got talking to her and soon realised I had met the woman I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

The weird thing is that I rear over 2000 turkeys on my farm which I sell in my shop at Christmas. Turkeys are not the sort of animal that most people have ornaments of but my wife had these and other turkey ornaments in her house.

Hanging in her cloakroom was a small picture of a farm with a long drive, a red tractor with two collie dogs and a ginger cat. My farm is down a 1/4 mile drive, I have a red tractor, two collie dogs and a ginger cat.

We married on Tuesday March 18 exactly one year on to the day and at exactly the same time we met one year ago. Now thanks to my wife, my life has changed.

“She has helped me develop the sausages with new fresh flavour ingredients so we cater for all tastes.”

One of the new sausages Alstaire has in the pipe line is a pork, red wine and smoky bacon banger.”

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay could not speak highly enough of the Battle bangers after trying them a few years ago and Alistaire says he is still in touch with Gordon.

Gordon also featured Alistaire’s Battle reared turkeys on his Christmas Cook Along television programme.