Page 58 - Shorthorn Magazine

Heifers cooling off at Dunham
After a lovely lunch and refreshments provided the Royle’s I then headed off back down the M6 in search of Julia French’s Greatwood herd,
well I thought I had been on some
of the narrowest country roads on my first day but boy was I wrong,
on the approach to Julia’s the road had been carved through the rock and I found myself breathing in as
I navigated through these country roads! Julia’s cows are very high purity and are kept as dual purpose, just a small herd but she still brought out the goods, a very smart correct Rantonall Joy 156 maiden heifer and a white cow Rantonall Strawberry with power and depth you had to admire. That was the end of what turned out to be a very busy day for me, I was off again heading East to Leicestershire for my overnight stay.
My last day started with a trip to the
In calf heifers at Amber
Brookside herd of the Kirk family. Well, I wasn’t disappointed as I
was presented with a herd of large powerful deep bodied cows, they had a run of very nice heifers by Bushmills Jazz and I’m very sure the classifier would have a very good day with the quality there was in that field. Their youngstock mostly bred by SSUK bulls were very uniformed and in fine condition, this is certainly a herd to look out for in the future and I wish Edward and Matthew
the best of luck in their pursuit of a permanent home for the Brookside herd.
As the temperature rose once again
I journeyed up country through thousands of acres of lovely golden straw that made me green with envy, making my way into the Derbyshire dales to my final port of call for
the week. The very impressive
Eddlestowe farm is home of the Amber herd. Arriving around lunch time Julie had made us a very enjoyable lunch that we ate sitting in garden.
James was very busy that day bringing in the last of the harvest,
so cowman Mick Taylor showed me around the cows. Mick’s knowledge of the cows was brilliant as he rhymed off all their names and sires and dams and grand dams, I have to confess I struggled to keep up with him! Lady Annetta 88th caught my eye as a very impressive modern blended cow. Amber Granite had
left some very good heifers in the herd as they were easily picked out as we walked through. Again, the cows were feeling the heat of the day which made it difficult for an amateur photographer like me to get pictures that really did them justice
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Shorthorn