that is confronting many out there in sunny Australia. Our intended trip to the UK has had to be postponed until 2016. I have had recent contact with Roger Harper who turns 70 tomorrow and will be having dinner with Chris & Debbie Fyson on Thursday. All are in good health. Again Roger Harper (64/66), Chris Fyson (65/67) and I, together with our wives, will be meeting up for a West Australian reunion at a Thai restaurant in Fremantle on June 6th. All being well, we'll have a picture or two for your next edition. Cheers for now.
Geoff Butler (61/63) I have just received The 2015 Newsletter and I offer thanks to all who contribute to its production. I have now retired from active Farming in the UK but still maintain a small Ag interest in Kansas US. Geoff Butler Director, Daleoak Ltd., Cloverfield, Horsebridge Road, Kings Somborne, Hampshire.
James Tallowin (92/95) James farms at Willow Farm, Hickling in Norfolk took part in the pilot big farmland bird count and was a national finalist in the 2012 Silver Lapwing National Conservation Award. Chris Ashcroft (75/78) Chris who is farming 1,000ha of arable land at Wilbraham Farms near Cambridge, has been using soil mapping technology to target his inputs and make savings. Tim Mack (69/71) Tim of Broads-based Yare Valley Oils is pressing his rapes seed to produce high quality cooking oil favoured by many top chefs including Jamie Oliver and Raymond Blanc, because of its high smoke point. Tim sells 6-7,000 litres of rapeseed oil across East Anglia including a chilli flavoured one. The remaining husks are then used to fuel his biomass boiler. In addition to the oilseed rape the 750 acre farm produces cereals, potatoes and sugar beet. Hugh Alston (74/77) Hugh Alston of Bradfield Hall Farm, an arable farm of five hundred acres growing wheat, barley, potatoes and sugar beet. Hugh has always farmed in a way sympathetic to the wildlife on his farm. During the working day Hugh would regularly see roe and muntjak deer, kestrels, foxes, kingfishers and even the odd marsh harrier. Ever conscious of news headlines about the decline in farmland habitat Hugh has set about ensuring Bradfield remains a haven for wildlife. Wide margins have been added around all the fields, native trees and hedgerows around the farm re-planted and beetle banks introduced to the middle of fields to act as an island refuge for small mammals and insects. In 1998, when the decline in farmland birds in particular really started to be reported, Hugh decided to start making a list of all the birds seen on the farm and encouraged visitors to do the same. Off the back of those records and concerned that bird numbers weren't as high as they could be, he set up a series of feeding stations around the farm and a small conservation area. Results were spectacular and flocks of goldfinch, yellowhammer and sparrows are now a common sight. Hugh now sells wild bird food, the same bespoke mixes and straight seeds he uses for his
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