What a fantastic autumn we have had so far, in fact as I write this we are enjoying unbroken sunshine and 18 degrees in the day, with rather chilly evenings. 

On  26th September when we held our Combined Calf Show at Barbers’ Auction Mart, Market Drayton,  kindly facilitated by Bernie Hutchinson and  held jointly with Stafford and Western Clubs, the sun shone, the handlers were all brilliant, and the calves looked awesome. There were 45 handlers and  98 calves.

 

To sort them out we had Ann Laird from Galaxy Holsteins to judge the Showmanship classes. From the novice class to the mature showmanship, Ann was amazed at the skills demonstrated and congratulated everyone for making her job far from straightforward - in fact several handlers received much acclaim from Ann saying they could compete and the very highest level.

 

Much appreciation should go to the co-ordinators from all three clubs who had obviously been working hard teaching and encouraging these HYB members, of whom we are very proud. But I must make special mention of Charlotte Cope along with Izzy and Steph Whittaker who devoted time and effort to encourage our younger members with obviously very good results.

 

Then we handed over the judging to Andrew Holliday from Edenholme Holsteins whose task it was to  sort out the calves.  Again, not an easy task as Andrew commented frequently on the high standard of animals presented.

But events like these do not just rely on the competitors, judges and weather. Far from it.

 

We could not take on these events without the support of very generous sponsors who allow us to cover costs both at the qualifier and eventually at the All Britain at Malvern on  16th to 18th October. Also all the preparation, running and clearing up need a small army of helpers to whom we are very grateful.  I have mentioned the Co-ordinators, Sponsors, Host, and Competitors, but I want to make special mention of Richard Bostock who co-ordinated the catalogue,  Carole Jones who dealt with the passports, and Trevor Stapleton and Phil Arrell who acted as ring stewards and kept the day running smoothly, allowing Ross Murray to do a great job on the microphone as well as all the helpers too numerous to mention without missing someone out.

On 30th September, 31 members travelled from Shropshire to Cumbria for our annual study tour.

 

Our first stop was at Colin and Yvonne Dents’ Bridgend Holsteins at Kirkby Thore. We were greeted by the family who gave us a huge lunch before deciding that we should move and go and have a look at the new 80 point rotary in operation.  Everyone was very impressed and then went to view the 900 cows and housing. Much debate could be heard about land, feeding, buildings and of course milk price. These discussions continued back at the house where the home-brewed Damson/Vodka Gin sampling started.

 

The idea was that everyone on the trip who had made Damson Gin  in previous years should bring a sample  for tasting purposes. It then became apparent that we had, between us, brought enough to float a small ship.  Needless to say, we arrived home 3 days later with a lot of empty bottles!

 

When we finally left the Dent family we headed to our Hotel for the next two nights in Penrith. Here we entertained our hosts for the trip, to dinner and a few more drinks.

 

 

 

The next morning we  headed over to Stephen Brough’s Carrick Holsteins at Buckabank, near Dalston.  Again we were greeted by the whole family and enjoyed coffee and cakes before being shown the recently installed Robot milkers in operation and again much debate about building design, investment and breeding, and like the Dents, Stephen has a keen eye set on the future with scope and ideas for expansion.

 

 

After a hearty lunch at the Bridge End Inn we headed across to Kevin and Christine Wilson’s Warnelview  Holsteins at Wood Farm, Thursby.  Again we were warmly greeted by the family, and after an introduction by Kevin we headed into the cow house built over the biggest slurry store we had ever seen. Being bedded on sand caused much discussion with all questions fully answered by the family.  We proceeded to view the 400 cows which need to be seen by all.  A really good herd of cows, which was the common theme throughout our 3 days on all farms. 

 

The young stock rearing created much debate but needed no better evidence than the quality and growth rates of the calves we saw, both bulls and heifers.  Christine, along with all her other duties, is in charge of the calves and was proud to let us see the whole rearing stages.

 

One thing that caused much debate was the height and size of the covered silage pits.They are huge!  Then we had some more refreshments, realising  that we need not have stopped for lunch at the Pub.  A fine feast of cakes and fancies was put before us.  Besides the cows, they are also big into sheep, selling cross-bred tups to an eager market.

 

It was here that we saw perhaps the cow of the tour with  Final Cut Nita, -  scored 96, but we all reckon she is easily 97pts. A great cow!  After getting back to the Hotel and another big dinner, we set about the final Gin tasting session with no other results than the decision we should do it again.

The next morning we visited the new dairy unit at Newton Rigg College where  we were warmly greeted by Jonathan Fisher, the Farm Manager, who showed us around the whole unit, with again, much debate on shed design and layout, bedding, solar power etc. and also green bedding.

 

This was our fourth and final farm visit, which again demonstrated the common theme throughout this tour, i.e., whole-hearted commitment and investment in the future of the dairy industry by making significant and well thought out plans,  all with slightly different angles, but non-the-less fully committed to the Holstein Cow and the dairy industry.

 

Lunch on this final day was at the Rheged Centre, Penrith, with a small amount of Retail Therapy.

Finally I report that Shropshire Holstein Club have held their first Golf Day at Hawkstone Park Golf Club on Thursday  8th October.  25 enthusiasts enjoyed a sunny day on some very fast greens and after all the drives and putts were done we enjoyed a good meal in the Clubhouse.  The overall winner was Michael Wilkinson with Kevin Fallon runner up and the highest placed Club members were myself and David Hiles. 

The next event was at Malvern for the ABAB’s show. How proud we are of all the Shropshire HYB members lead by Charlotte Cope and team, including Izzy and Steph Whittaker and  James Doherty who have devoted many hours af training and guidance to the younger members who did us so proud.

 

The complete results will appear in this issue but we must mention Sinead O’Neill who was the youngest qualifier at the Show and placed  3rd in the Junior Showman class.  Colm O’Neill who was placed 6th in the Intermediate class and then Harry Davis coming in 7th in the Senior Showman class at his first visit to the show following up his first attempt at handling by winning our qualifier at Market Drayton. But all this was eclipsed by James Doherty who was placed 2nd in the Mature Showman class and went on win Honourable Mention in the Championship. It must be mentioned that each class numbered in excess of 25 entries. All this resulted in Shropshire winning the Team Showmanship Trophy. Great Job Team Shropshire.

 

Sunday again brought more success stories in the calf classes with our team turning out the Honourable mention calf in the shape of Knowlesmere Windbrook Chancel owned by Andrew and Jane Whittaker of Knowlesmere Holsteins.

On Friday  23rd of October we opened our Winter Season with a talk given by Mike Tucker, The voice of all things equestrian on the BBC and a Bake Off competition to raise funds for Macmillan Nurses.

 

And what a splendid evening we had. Mike regailed us with stories from his childhood, his growing up during his teen years, and the life he has enjoyed being involved with Three day Eventing and how he got involved as a commentator.  Not forgetting that behind all this he is a farmer who having gone out of dairy cows in 2009,is now, along with his Son, developing a pure Wagu herd along with a cerial enterprise.

 

But Mike’s work was not done after his presentation. Along with Mitch from ABS in the States who was visiting with us they were charged with judging our cake competition which was split into Male and Female bakers. The winner of the male section was Roger Stevenson and the ladies was won by Michelle Jerman. The standard was unbelievable and the creative skills truly amazing, with  around £300 being donated to Macmillan Nurses. If that were not enough the ladies put on a fine spread of Cheese and Biscuits and nibbles with wine. Yes more Alchohol I hear you say. Great Fun for a great cause.