The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Farming community’s own lord of the rings
JIM WEBSTER is a kenspeckle figure in both the farming world and in his local community.
David Andrews caught up with him at Fife Show, where he was the ringside announcer.
Q — What does a ringside announcer do?
A — You have to keep the show going and inform everyone what is happening or should be happening. Q
— How long have you been doing this?
A— A long, long time; at Fife I started 10 to 12 years ago at Balcormo but now the show has come down to this site outside Cupar.
I also do Kinross, Doune and Dunblane and Strathardle Gathering. I used to do more but have cut back.
Q — You will have come across a lot of unusual problems?
A — There are always lost children but really the children are not lost as they know where they are. It’s their mums and dads that are lost.
Q — Is having a knowledge of the farming industry important?
A — It is helpful. You get a lot of people coming to you. You may not know their names but you know the faces.
Q — How do you see the future of shows?
A — That is difficult. They are not what they were. They are changing. I fear a lot of shows will struggle in the future especially if they have not been well attended. The weather can play a big part in deciding the future of a show. If they have had bad weather it can really hit their income.
Q —You used to show livestock yourself. You will know the cost and effort that goes into that part of it. There are big expenses; stockman’s wages especially on overtime; transport costs are rising fast.
A — Showing livestock always did cost money but you have to remember the rub off and that is you are advertising your animals and it helps to sell them in the future
Q — How did you get into farming?
A — My father was a shepherd as was my grandfather. I left school before I was 15 when I went into the bothy at Flowerdale, Kinrossie.
I then volunteered for the army rather than wait to be called up as I would have been in those days. I signed on for 21 years but with a three-year option. After the first three years, I came out.
Q— What are your memories of the army?
A— I met this tremendous character; an officer who had himself seen a bit of life. He had been at Dunkirk where he said it was like going to hell and back. He helped change my attitude to life.
He told me that instead of having been dealt a poor hand in life, I had already more experience of tackling problems than many twice my age. We got on well together and he gave me a lot of confidence which I did not have before.
He put me on any course which he thought would be beneficial to me and then, after three years, he told me I should get back into civilian life.
He said that in the army someone does your thinking for you while as a civilian if you work hard you will make a name for your self and enjoy success.
Q — And then?
A— I went back to the same bothy where I learned more about farming. I got married there and moved out of the bothy into one of the farm cottages.
That was in 1961 and anything and everything I have achieved in life has been largely due to the help and support that I have from my wife May over the past 51 years.
Q — And the next steps up the farming ladder?
A — After a year or two, I became a farm grieve and then I was offered the job of farm manager at Ballinshoe at Kirriemuir for Lord George Mackie. That gave me my introduction to growing strawberries and raspberries and also to growing Golden Wonders which were famously good eating potatoes.
We also bucket reared dairy calves and then they were sold as yearlings.
Q — But you are best known as the farm manager at Snaigow.
A— I went there in 1976 to work for the Cadogan family. Initially we had 500 acres to manage but by the time I retired in 2001 we had 1,800 acres in hand. And the amazing thing is I worked them with the same workforce as I had almost 25 years earlier.
Q — You also had a cattle for the first time.
A— I started with a commercial herd which seemed to consist of 57 varieties. I built this up to 200 suckler cows and a small pedigree herd of Simmental cattle. Q
— What attracted you to Simmentals?
A— I thought they were the best for temperament and they had good maternal traits.
Q— I remember visiting Snaigow when you were in charge and the walls of the cattle shed were covered in prize tickets. A — Yes we had a lot of success in the show ring and we also did well in the sales. The top price I got and this was more than 15 years ago was 5,800 guinea for Snaigow Viking.
Q — But you also went on to work for the Simmental society?
A— I was on the breed committee for six years and I also did a spell as chairman of the Scottish Simmental club.
Two years after I retired they made me an honorary member.
Q — Was stepping into the pedigree world not a bit daunting?
A — Not at all; I met some very kind and helpful people like the late Jim Biggar, Robert Mcgregor, David Leggat and Finlay Mcgowan and I thank them and many more for the advice they gave to a newcomer.
Q — Going back to the commercial herd at Snaigow you made changes there as well.
A— I developed a breeding programme based on a three way cross involving Simmentals, Shorthorns and South Devons. I am proud that 10 years after my retirement that same being programme is still in place.
Q — In the 1980s you were awarded an MBE?
A — This was for services to farming and also to the community.
Q — Tell me about your community work.
A — For 16 years, a group of us put on Highland nights once a week at Pitlochry to raise funds for the local juvenile band. It was good fun.
The group also put on a lot of concerts and ceilidhs. We did it for nothing other than the pleasure of doing it.
I worked with a lot of the big names in the Scottish entertainment world, People such as Moira Anderson, Peter Morrison, Evelyn Glennie, Jimmy Shand and his son, also Jimmy, Anne Lorne Gillies, Jean Redpath, Robbie Shepherd and Lorraine Kelly — all lovely people.
Q — One memory from that time please.
A — We had a concert in the old Herdsmans bar at the Highland show. Simon Howie was playing. It was a grand night. At closing time the party was going full swing and it was time to announce the end of the concert. Turning a blind eye to the official rules, a policeman said we could continue and we were still playing two hours later.
Q — What is the big change you have seen in farming?
A — The machinery has grown out of all recognition. Remember I started with a horse when I was a bothy lad.
Q — Would you do it all again?
A — Yes.