Shropshire’s Maynard Davies is the last of a special breed of food craftsmen – and he is keen to share his recipe for good food with others.

“I have always found that people with a lot of knowledge will pass it on.

Those with very little knowledge won’t, because if they do they have nothing left for themselves,” said Maynard, whose latest book “Maynard, Secrets of a Bacon Curer” is being launched next week.

Among those who tap into his unique knowledge and experience are some of the biggest firms.

“I’m a consultant, and did all Marks and Spencer’s recipes. I do all the major companies.”

The book is the story of his life, from leaving school unable to read and write, to creating a business which was given the accolade of producing the “Rolls-Royce of bacon.”

Now 73, Maynard, a Master Curer, is in a very active retirement at Halfway House, being sought out as a consultant, troubleshooting, inventing machines for the food industry, and also writing. His business card bills him as “The Curer”.

Explaining his move into becoming an author, he said: “I have been in business all my life and now I’m retired I got grumpy and fed up. I got bored. I have always been a very active man.

“I thought that being the last traditional bacon curer in England, time-served, that I had an interesting life.”

He explained that traditional curing involved buying in all the salts and herbs and then, using skill and experience, blending them in a “happy marriage”.

“It takes skill to blend everything. Today they buy the stuff all mixed up in a bag. Most of the stuff in supermarkets is all the same.”

His first book was called “Maynard: Adventures of a Bacon Curer”, and his latest follow-on work includes anecdotes and tips on curing, smoking, and selling.

Published by Ludlow-based Merlin Unwin Books and costing £9.99, “Maynard, Secrets of a Bacon Curer” is being launched at Tanners at Shrewsbury on Thursday.

His business in Shropshire was Maynard’s Farm Bacon, at Weston-under-Redcastle. After selling up, Maynard is no longer connected with the business, although it still carries his name.

Among the tales within his book’s pages are that of the Shropshire funeral in which the drunken vicar fell headlong into the grave, landing on top of the coffin, and had to be rescued with a rope, and the unusual and challenging commission to produce authentic meat suitable for a medieval banquet, such as suckling pigs, Old English hams, and medieval-style sausage, being staged by a member of the aristocracy.

There were also hard-learned lessons too, in which trusting Maynard found himself duped and out of pocket.

In writing his books he has had a handicap.

“I’m dyslexic, so I put it on tape, and then my wife does it,” he says. But there is also an up-side to his dyslexia.

“I have a talent for designing things. I can see what wants doing, and what can be done. I have designed factories for people. I think, being dyslexic, I see things differently, and see how things should be.”

His first book was a success, and he puts that down to its honesty.

“I told the truth. I told how there were times when I had no money, and how difficult it was. It was not a rags-to-riches business.”

With the follow-up book about to come out, he is already well into another book, to be called “Manual of a Master Curer”.

“It contains every recipe, from Roman times, on how to produce every type of food relating to pork and beef. There are 5,000 recipes in there, including one 2,500 years old, which still works.

“I have been in the business for 60 years and over that time I have collected, and been given, a tremendous number of recipes, which I would like to pass on.”

As for today’s food, he says: “I think food is tremendously overpriced for what it is and the quality isn’t what it should be. I don’t think we as a people complain enough and ask how they got at those prices.

“The wife’s family come from Italy and we motored through France to Italy, and you could not believe the food we had. It was such a reasonable price. You travel 21 miles over the Channel and food is twice as dear here.

“The farmers don’t get the money. It isn’t the farmers, is it?”

He added: “There are some good craftsmen who never get a mention. There are a lot of people in this county who produce excellent food and don’t shout from the rooftops how clever they are, and produce good food for good people.”

Which begs the question – where does he get his own food?

“My wife does that. She is in charge of everything.”

His wife, Ann Purchase, chips in: “I buy all my meat from the butcher in Pontesbury.”

And what sort of food does he like?

“That’s a hard question. I have an excellent wife who is an excellent cook. I enjoy everything she does. That is a diplomatic answer.”

Ann said: “He likes plain, simple food – and the occasional bacon sandwich.”