CHRIS Brookes has spent his working life in muck of some kind or another - but that's what makes him truly happy.

Chris and his wife Elizabeth run Boreley Pig Roasts from their farm at Boreley, near Ombersley.

"We breed our own free-range large white pigs. They live outside on our 13-acre farm with wooden arks for shelter," said Chris.

Boreley Pig Roasts sell their pork rolls, complete with apple sauce, herby stuffing and gravy at farmers' markets in Malvern and Worcester as well as at events and private parties - but the idea of doing pig roasts only happened by chance.

"We help out at Bishops Wood Centre, near Stourport-on-Severn, and as they knew we raised pigs, a few years ago they asked if we could do a pig roast for an event. It was a great success - and that was how it started."

Boreley Pig Roasts do special events where the whole family get into the spirit of things, including their daughter April, who is 17.

They do a monks' suppers where they serve a mediaeval monks' supper roast, dressed in habits. At Viking events at Bishops Wood they feed guests wearing Viking helmets. And, of course, they also wear traditional outfits at the Victorian Fayre in Worcester at Christmas.

Chris, aged 47, worked as a pigman for 10 years after leaving school and, later on, took a better-paid job cleaning sewers.

"I progressed to working as a structural surveyor of sewers but after 15 years of working away from home, it was time for a change.

"My wife's parents had a pig and arable farm and after they died we took on the farm and started keeping pigs again."

After slaughter at around six months, the pigs are roasted in a huge oven on the farm. The oven measures five foot, by two foot by four foot. It can roast three pigs at a time, with each pig weighing 150lb.

The Brookes have around 30 pigs on the farm. The breeding pigs are all named - there's Tammy, Alice, Dot and Doris along with Terry, the boar. And the latest sow is Miss Piggy.

Miss Piggy narrowly escaped being the next pig roast after the Brookes decided to keep her.

"When she was little she was really poorly and we had to feed and care for her as you would a baby. We got really attached to her. She's so sweet. She must have given Chris one of her looks and it looks like we going to keep her," said Elizabeth.

Recipe: Elizabeth's Herby StuffingINGREDIENTSSix slices of white bread.One large onion.One apple.One tablespoon mixed herbs.One meat stock cube.METHOD1. Crumble the six slices of white bread.2. Mince a large onion.3. Grate an apple.4. One tablespoon of mixed herbs.5. Combine all the above with a meat stock cube in boiling water.6. Line a dish/tin, level mixture in tray and bake in oven about 20 minutes at gas mark five.FARMERS' MARKET DatesDroitwich - June 2, Victoria Square, from 9am-2pm.Worcester - June 3, Royal Worcester, from 10am-2pm.Bromsgrove - June 9, High Street, from 9am-5pm.Malvern - June 16, Abbey Road, from 9am-2pm.Worcester - June 23, St Peter's Garden Centre, from 9.30am-2pm.