Winter 2022 - Shropshire
The following Monday the 26th we held our Summer Supper at the same venue where we presented the Shropshire Summer Herds Competition results and trophies and welcomed Richard and Barbara Lucas from Meinespride Holsteins who was our judge.
Richard gave an amusing and interesting presentation before announcing his placings and presenting the trophies and prize cards.
During the evening we ran a Roulette Raffle which was very novel and the cause of much excitement, with each spin resulting in the winners getting a bottle of champagne, which was very generously provided by our Presidents, Chris and Grace Brown. This raised lots of money which was combined with funds raised by the Charity Auction kindly officiated by Jonny Dymond from Halls Auctioneers.
The highlight of the evening was the very generous donation of Styche Santos Sally 5 from Peter and Ed Seaton and family which raised £3,000 and was eventually knocked down to Pippa Tudor at Hallon Holsteins.
Other items included a Gin Package from Chilton Gin, 12 months supply of malteser cake from Jane Arrell. Semen vouchers from Semex, and Genus ABS, Embryos from Brent and Ann Crothers, Cheese Hamper from Belton Cheese, Whisky donated by Colin and Carole Jones, Hedgehog Box built and donated by Dick Stapleton, a stay at Ivy House Holiday Cottage donated by Jane and Andy Whittaker.
We are very grateful to all who donated items and to those who so generously purchased tickets and items, and especially the 165 people who attended and made the evening such a success. Special thanks to David and Sue Cope who hosted the event at Prees Wood.
The funds raised amounted to over £6,000 which will be split between The Severn Hospice and HYB funds. We hope to present the cheque to a representative of the Severn Hospice at our AGM on the 12th December.
1st October was the date for our Calf Show qualifier at Halls Auction Mart who very generously support all our Club activities. On the day we had 25 competitors in the handling classes and 23 qualifying calves in the calf classes. Again these events do not just happen and we want to thank all of our sponsors who support our young breeders so generously and of course our members who willingly help and support Brent Crothers and Pippa Tudor.
Special thanks go to Steven Harris from Racewood Holsteins in Cornwall who did a splendid job in judging all our entrants and placing each class with winners making up our team for the All Britain.
The team who represented our Club at Peterborough made us very proud,and despite the very young average age of our team, performed way above expectation and resulted in many top ten places which gives us great encouragement for the future when our team will have gained much more experience and skills to compete at the very highest level.
One particular highlight was when Sioned Morris won the Little Star Award which is very well deserved, and we are very proud of her and all of our HYB team.
On 4th to the 7th October 48 members enjoyed a trip to Ireland visiting farms, Glendaloch and the Irish National Stud.
We started out from Ellesmere at 9.30am on the 4th and travelled to Hollyhead for the ferry journey over to Dublin. Our driver Neil from Lakeside coaches looked after us and got us safely to our accommodation at Gorey in good time and we are all very thankful for the comfortable ferry journey.
Our Hotel, The Ashdown in Gorey, was excellent and the food was marvellous which, when we reallised that it was owned and run by a farming family was no surprise. The owners produce all their own meat and vegetables on farms nearby.
As with most events such as this, plans do change for all sorts of reasons, and a visit to Glendaloch hosted by the Chairman of Heritage Board which manages the Glen was an excellent replacement for a visit that we had to cancel. Kevin Doyle and his father entertained us with tales of times gone by and regaled us with mystical tales. Despite the constant rain we had chance to walk around part of the glen and down to the first Loch. Glendaloch means Glen with two lakes. Here we visited Saint Kevin’s Church which is the oldest church in Ireland and the site of what was a 6th Century Monastry. Ireland is a beautiful Country and as Kevin told us “it will be even more beautiful when they build a roof over it.”
Victor won the National Herds competition this year and it is easy to understand why when we walked the herd in a most beautiful area with the Wicklow mountains rising above this green and pleasant farm.
As well as an oustanding herd for type these cows were making milk for fun on a largly grass based diet. Victor and his sister then put on a marvellous spread of refreshments and answered many questions from an admiring gathering, covering all aspects of farming and cow management.
Following another night of good food and Guinness with a few Gins for good measure, as it would not be a Shropshire Club trip without the Gin tasting, we then set out on day three to visit Gary Hurley at Coolmore . This is the home of the Clonpaddin Holsteins and the famous Fame family.
Again we were presented with another great herd of cows and we were able to walk round the field and work off some of the calories we had enjoyed, and view some fantastic cows with strength and great legs and feet and again making loads of high quality milk. We were then entertained by Gary’s Mum and his family with an excellent spread of refreshments.
We then headed to the Arklow Bay Hotel for lunch!
Following lunch we visited Philip Jones at Holstein View, just outside Gorey.
Philip is Gary Jones’ brother and here we were greeted by his Father and Philip’s family to view more fantastic cows which they like to show at various events and encouraged to continue showing by his Son Will, who continues the family tradition of breeding and showing great cows.
Members saw cattle at every farm we visited which they would love to have at home and I am aware that several are seeking embryos from some families that may become available in the future.
Following another evening of feasting we commenced day four of our study tour with a visit to the Irish National Stud which was fascinating and enjoyed by all with a giuded tour around the facility followed by an opportunity to visit the gardens before departing for our ferry journey back to
Hollyhead during which again saw calm seas and pleasant sailing.
The most common complaint arising from the tour is that on average it seems that we all gained a few pounds in weight but we had fun doing it.
Thank you to everyone who made this Tour so enjoyable but special thanks to Jane Whittaker and Gary and Izzy Jones who proved very helpful in setting up the visits.
Our first meeting of the Winter programme saw Frances Evans from Deri Holsteins travel up from South Wales and give a talk based around her time in America studying at Cornell University and the operation that she runs at home with her parents. An enthralled audience of 42 members were very impressed with what they saw and heard and we thank Frances very much.
Frances was on her way to Canada and the USA for a holiday and to catch up with friends and we hope that she had a safe journey and returned with even more ideas to employ on the family farm.
The AGM on the 12th December was the next event in our calendar which was followed by mulled wine and mince pies before Pippa Tudor gave a very interesting report on her activities within HYB which included an exchange visit to Sweden were she visited several dairy farms who all seem to have adopted robotics very keenly but she did say that it was tooold for her and she will be staying in Shropshire to continue her career at Hallon Farm.
Father Christmas made a surprise visit to the HYB childrens Christmas party which was greatly enjoyed by all.
On behalf of all members of the Shropshire Holstein Club I wish all a healthy and happy New Year.
