Almost The End of the Line...Times Two

D Jackson

It is no secret that I have always had an interest in the beautiful Northern Dairy Shorthorns that were once so common and popular in our area, but had almost died out by the time I reached my early teens. I was lucky in a way because of my job as a young auctioneer at Penrith I visited a lot of farms and we conducted large numbers of on farm sales in the late 70s and 80s. A lot of these farms still had remnants of some of the old lines found in our area. It was on two different occasions that I found the last examples of two of the most revered NDS families down to the last one on both occasions, namely the Lockthwaite Cockbirds and Millness Rosebuds. Both cows were bred from Great Yorkshire Show Champions and one also won the Coronation Cup at the Old London dairy show held at Olympia. I will start with the Rosebuds. I always fancied one as some were always maintained in the renowned Wreay herd at Penrith. I remembered asking Bill Jackson how he came to own them and he told me he bought one at the Plumptonhead Northern Dairy Shorthorn dispersal in 1963. He purchased the cow Plumptonhead Rosebud 2 a daughter of the original Millness Rosebud that had won all the top shows and bred successful stock bulls including Plumptonhead Olympia, used in the well known Northern Dairy Shorthorn West Park herd owned by Tom Birkett. The cows from this herd that featured in the original All Creatures Great and Small TV series! Bill said the cow, a daughter of Mungrisedale Lancer had a fantastic udder and started the Wreay Rosebud family off. Never a prolific heifer breeding family, there were none left when the Wreay herd was dispersed in 1998. A few years earlier Richard Moscrop, Gibbs Hill herd bought Wreay Rosebud 22 (1991) at a club sale. When the Gibbs Hill herd was dispersed I bought the top priced animal on the day, Gibbs Hill Rosebud, a cracking red in calf heifer sired by Wenvoe Briars Masterman. After she calved she won 3rd prize in milk heifer in that years North West herd competition under judge Wendy Young. I was lucky to get a heifer calf from her before I lost her with a wire in her stomach. The family reverted back to the Millness Rosebud name so not to confuse them with the other Coates Herd book families of the same name. After a ‘shaky last chance saloon’ start there are Millness Rosebuds here at Tahuna, Moorriggs and at Andrew Hattons, Low Riggs herd. The latest one to calve this summer was Tahuna Millness Rosebud 4th a cracking roan daughter of Winbrook King Henry, now being milked at Moorriggs and doing very nicely. With the family now in three herds with a bit of luck they should prosper again. The other family, the Lockthwaite Cockbirds were again a Championship winning Northern Dairy family down to the last one. The Lockthwaite herd was owned by Tim Tarn from Kirkby Stephen, a keen show man in his day. The Cockbirds were a top show winning and bull breeding strain and when the herd was dispersed in 1974 only two remained. The top cow was Lockthwaite Cockbird 15 bought by Harry Nicloson, Castilles who won Champion at Great Yorkshire Show in 1975 with her. The other one, a red and white heifer was bought by my friend Billy Brown of Wigton who maintained a select but unregistered herd, still there today. I sold his nephew an unregistered roan Northern Dairy bull to his herd at Carlisle and he was the sire of the last one. The last heifer was registered back to pedigree status and the line is now active in at least 4 or five Northern Dairy Shorthorn herds. So again the line should survive and prosper with a bit of luck. Both of these Northern Dairy families still breed a really nice balanced type, very correct and hard wearing. In the future we will get one good enough to show again!! Fingers crossed!! David Jackson