North West Shorthorn Breeders Association

North West Region of Dairy Shorthorns - Herd Competition

Report 2022 | Judge: Florence Mannerings

1641 miles in 6 days…. What a week!!!

With my sister, Philippa & my dog, Morris along for the ride our first stop was Martin Jackson in Thirsk and boy did he start us off with a bang! The first Shorthorn I saw was his calf, Bilbro Empress 3; a calf so stylish she stuck in my head throughout the whole trip and ended up in 2nd place, and with a bit more age on her side would have easily topped the class. After being utterly spoiled and treated to a terrific market breakfast we were off on the road again to Co. Durham. A fair few miles along stunning, winding roads and we were at Newpark Farm being given a lovely lunch by Dennis & Margaret Craig. A farm so beautiful in a landscape unchanged by modern times; their beautiful Shorthorns fitting into the scenery like peas in a pod. Overall, it was the youngstock from both Newpark and Parkhouse (Victoria Bowman) herds that stuck out for me here with strong, hardy, well grown and stylish heifers of all sizes. Namely, Newpark Barbara 8 and Parkhouse Pansy 12; two classy calves with super strength and character and were exactly the type of calves I would aim to breed at home.

Next stop, a few more miles up to Berwick (and yes; this is still all Day 1!). Final herd to judge of the day was Bekka Blenkharn’s Rawghyll herd. Having only moved to this farm a couple of months previous to my visit I was very impressed with how well they had settled there. There was a wide variety of cows to be seen from a multitude of different herds; a style of cow there to suit everyone’s tastes. I especially liked their in-calf heifer Rawghyll Lady Hermione 2 who was compact & strong with a very promising udder. But what was really lovely was Bekka’s clear passion & enthusiasm for the breed. We have family very near to Berwick so that was where we laid our heads for the night and were informed of realistically how long our travels the next day would be… which was a slightly daunting thought and had us rising a lot earlier than previously anticipated ready to fit everyone in in good time! Now, I’m not sure many of us would class Fife as technically in the North West… but did I mind? Not at all. Located on the beautiful coast of Scotland, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Adam Lawson and the Lisnamulligan herd of Dairy Shorthorns. Milking Shorthorns alongside their pedigree Friesians, these cows were bred for longevity. It was Dam & Daughter Lisnamulligan Lady Barrington 3 & 5 that really caught my eye. With the Dam in her 8th lactation and looking like she could go on for years and years with strength on top and neat in her pins; she is the type of cow any farmer would want in their herd. She is also the Dam of Lisnamulligan Lotto, a bull I very much admired who I’m sure is passing on that strength and longevity to all his progeny. After picking up Philippa & Morris from the beach and stocking up on car snacks we were on route across to Cumbria (a thoroughly enjoyable journey with incredible views; much nicer & emptier than Southern roads!!) to the Parton herd from the Hewson family. We didn’t have any individual cows to judge here but, wow, what a treat to see so many Shorthorns together in one herd going back so many years. There were many of the traditional, strong, working Shorthorns that I love to see; and it was the uniformity of these cows that stuck out for me in the overall herd competition. Luckily, we brought the Kentish sunshine with us to Cumbria and later that day were treated to a lovely walk around the Mossrigg Dairy Shorthorns from the Fisher family in some glorious evening sunshine in the serene Eden Valley. For a smaller herd, I was seriously impressed by the class and style of these animals. Such strong genetics through their families where you could easily see traits being handed on from Dam to Daughter.

Mossrigg Barrington Duchess 13, one of their heifers in milk, had an outstanding mammary system and a neat frame with depth that she quickly took the top spot in my head and held it for the duration of our trip. If you read Philippa’s article about this trip, you will notice the first paragraph is about choosing between places to stay… well, this was the night we ended up in a ‘rustic’ log cabin which turned out to have no running water, no electricity, no light & no signal! So, after an interesting candlelight cheese & wine dinner we had a fairly early night before heading off to Thomas Moscrop’s farm in the morning.

Touring around the Irthingelt herd…what a way to start Day 3! A very big and impressive farm that was all go when we arrived. We started off with the bull pens which had both Philippa & I mesmerised by the fantastic bulls in these great facilities. I was impressed by the size and length of Oxton Clarity; however, it was Cotonhall Solomon who really stood out for me. I couldn’t fault this bull; he stood so well with a leg strong in each corner, super hard on top, a compact frame with depth and cleanliness throughout. I saw a lot of bulls, but Solomon always stayed the clear winner in my head. All of Thomas’ youngstock were so well matched and uniform in type; all well grown and strong, highlighting all the best Shorthorn traits. I especially liked the progeny of Irthingelt Wildeyes Tommy; he has clearly stamped the stock well, all of them with strong frames, hard tops and shorthorn character. Farm 2 of Day 3 was Phil Armstrong’s Moorriggs herd. Having never met Phil before we didn’t know what a treat we were in for. It was an absolute delight to be shown around by a farmer so passionate and enthusiastic about each and every single one of his cows - I really loved it. I have never known a farm with so many twins and triplets in one herd (and Phil of course knew every single one and all their relations); fertility sure is high in Thrimby! The herd overall was of brilliant uniformity, strong cows really utilising shorthorn traits. Winbrook Claridge has left a strong stamp on his progeny; all of them have presence with strong, tidy frames and a very smart style. Moorriggs Fleur 9 especially took my eye and won the very competitive heifer in-calf class. She is an especially smashing heifer, strong on top, really well set tail head, superb length, tracks up and shows great promise underneath.

We then had our final herd of the day which was David Jackson’s Tahuna Herd. A small herd but thoroughly enjoyable being shown around by such an enthusiastic breeder with great pedigree knowledge. Rushylea Cockbird Lass 10 was the outstanding animal of the herd for me. A Northern Dairy Shorthorn with superb strength on top and fantastic length, so strong on her legs and correct overall that she was the winner of the purebred class despite being young because I see such promise and could not fault her; I look forward to seeing her when she calves!

After a night at Ullswater and a lake walk in the morning Day 4 started off at David Dent’s Winbrook herd. There is a word that comes to mind when thinking about David’s youngstock and that is ‘class’. Having sold up the milking herd there is mainly youngstock now, but you can see a lot of work goes into these animals; all so well grown and correct, it is no wonder they do so well in the sales. There were a few older cows to see, and I was very impressed by Winbrook Jill 144, a 14yo cow in calf with her 11th, walking really well, pins still set correctly in place with a super hard top; just would love to have seen her in milk! Quick trip up the road to Lorna Brogden’s next where on a mainly sheep farm there are a few beautiful dairy shorthorns fulfilling Lorna’s passion for the breed! I especially liked Brownbur Vi 2; an in-calf heifer with good length and capacity, strength through the shoulder and a promising bag underneath. Next up was Mac Findlay and the Redhouse herd. Mac and his family have the only full herd of Normandy cows in the UK with a few Shorthorns in there too. I was amazed by these spotty cows and the fact they are all milked via robots but also on a grazing system. It was great to see the cows happily out at grass and able to wander back in whenever they liked to be milked - a very impressive system. The standout Shorthorn for me was Redhouse Vi; a smart in-calf heifer with a high rear udder and fantastic depth and although she didn’t quite make it into the placings, I think she shows great promise. Final herd of the day was the Beaconview herd from the Handley family. The first cow I saw was Beaconview Lottie 7 - a 2nd calver and the word that comes to mind is simply ‘wow’. What a tremendous cow; I saw her and knew that she was my winner; outstanding mammary with a high and wide blooming rearing udder, a tidy, compact and strong frame with good depth and capacity and just outstanding overall dairy character. But what was really impressive is that Lottie was not on her own showing this class; so many cows in the herd matched in uniformity and had tremendous character, locomotion and style from senior milkers through to youngstock and that is why they had to be my herd winners. It was a real treat to see so many wonderful Shorthorns. We then stopped off to get drinks and nibbles in Kendal before spending a cosy night in at the Robinsons catching up on Bake Off. I was up early in the morning to milk with James and Henry - couldn’t miss out of the opportunity to see the cracking Strickley herd going through the parlour! Strickley farm is so well renowned not only for the tremendous herd of Dairy Shorthorns but also for its landscape and the terrific work the Robinson family do to better our environment which was enlightening. What was striking about the Strickley herd was the longevity. My winning cow on both inspection and production was Strickley Oak Barrington 22; a super cow in calf with her 12th and still so incredibly strong on top, parading tremendously well with such depth and capacity and a youthful udder.