AN eye-catching group of Belted Galloway cattle is settling in to Teesdale.

The herd has left the hills above Bowes, near Barnard Castle, for the comfortable grade II-listed parkland at Lartington Hall, which was laid out in about 1770.

The Belties, with their distinctive white band, are from the pedigree herd of Paul Coppen at White Close Hill farm, Gilmonby, near Bowes.

The herd supplies beef for London’s oldest restaurant, Rules.

The Lartington estate is owned by Rules’ owner John Mayhew, who has a policy of sourcing produce from the estate when appropriate.

The parkland has been in Countryside Stewardship for the past ten years.

The scheme involves a low-input grazing system, although fertiliser applications have always been kept to a minimum.

The system mirrors that operated at White Close Hill, where the Belties are reared on a diet of grass and hay (or haylage) produced on the farm.

The breed thrives on the production methods and is generally more efficient than modern breeds at converting low-quality forage into top-quality meat.

Belties are extremely hardy and live long. The forage-only diet means they grow more slowly, normally maturing in their third year.