June 13th 2008

This week we nt to the three Counties Show. We were to have competed there but Malvern, where the shjow is held, is on the Blue Tongue zone, so we just took ourselves off to support our chums!

26th May 2008

Geoff in Charity Shave off at the Smallholders' and Garden Festival!

Not sure if the headline works really! But that's what happened. Trust Highland Cattle breeders to come up with something different!
The Smallholders' Show was quieter this year, mostly due to the Bluetongue ban. The only cattle that were competing were the Welsh Black and the Highlanders and there were fewer stands too! There's no doubt that we've promoted the breed with more energy and committment that any other breed. In spite of the fact that the Welsh Black Stand has won 3 times in 5 competitions with the most unimaginative, boring unwelcoming Stand one could hope to see. And surprise, surprise, the Ancient Cattle of Wales came second with a Stand that was almost as boring. I have wondered in my darker moments whether the dearth of cattle and stands is because the Welsh Black are always first! It certainly takes the fun out of competing. Having said that we had great fun, as always, and the highlight of the weekend was the Charity Shave off in aid of the Air Ambulance.
Here, in very rural Wales we are extremely vulnerable in terms of health provison. Our farm is 25 miles from the nearest hospital and when minutes count we are in the red danger zone. A motor amulance does well if it takes half an hour to get to us and then it has a 30-40 minute dash to the hospital!

below: George Vella ably assisted by daughter Charlie cut thoat in one hand and brush in the other

(due to health and safety concerns, George can no longer use a true cut throat razor)

13th May 2008

Watch out for us at The Smallholders' and Garden Festival!

It's that time again - when The Highland Cattle Club of Wales goes off to Builth Wells and represents Highland Cattle in Wales to an ever growing public. I say Highland Cattle in Wales, but as the Smallholders' is even bigger than before, we are promoting to the whole of the UK now. There are more cattle, more sheep, more stands and more people than ever before. The May Fold has been involved with showing cattle at the Smallholders' since before the Show had cattle! In fact ours were the first to be on show back in 2002. We were housed in the goat shed with the Fallabella horses and we slept with our cattle. It was freezing and the cow on the left kept licking Geoff's ear, thus preventing him from going to sleep! This year will be our 6th year of organising the HCCW Stand and we have comfortable beds in the Stockman's accommodation. It will probably be our last time in charge of organising, however. We'll still be around to help, of course as there is something about the friendliness of the Royal Welsh Showground people themselves and the cameraderie of a team effort that is very beguiling. There are other more motivated people who have a fresh take on things that are about to take over from us and we think they'll improve on what we've done. Watch this space for a couple of pictures and a short description of the activities! Meanwhile I'll leave you with a tranquil view of of Gilfachwen seen from the top lake.

10th May 2008

New Look News

We've moved our website to a new server: there's a story behind that! We can now manage the content ourselves and one of the first things we decided to do was to change the News page to make it a bit more user friendly. From now on the latest news will be at the top of the page and if your interested in more you can scroll down.

 

Miss Bun makes an announcement