Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Plenty on offer for young farmers
Farmer Ro Collingborn heads back to the ‘Land of My Fathers’ to enjoy the Royal Wesh Show
NOT wishing to miss the wonderful Royal Welsh Show, which was on again after a two-year gap, we set off early, on what was forecast to be the hottest day of the year. Since I originally come from Wales, driving through the hills and mountains of the Brecon Beacons, I really felt I was returning to the Land of My Fathers.
Travelling through the Welsh countryside, we could see how quickly green has turned to soft gold, as the cereal crops have ripened, while harvested hay fields and desiccated pastures have also turned to a pale yellow. Luckily over the years, we have discovered a way to beat the queues for the last ten miles to the show, on a little-used mountain road.
There is one disadvantage; the empty road with its ups and downs and sharp turns appeals to the rally driving-side of my husband, so the journey was far from relaxing, as I begged him to watch out for straying sheep.
The Royal Welsh Show first opened in Aberystwyth in 1904, with the aim of improving the breeding of stock and encouraging agriculture throughout Wales. The early years were precarious as the show moved around Wales, before settling at a permanent site in 1963. This was at Builth Wells, making use of an abandoned quarry, surrounded by hills. There is something for everyone, and the show is always very vibrant with a good proportion of young people.
Our first stop once we arrived at the show was a visit to the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery. They are a particular favourite of ours, and we were very lucky to be able to be given a tour of the lines. We learnt in great detail about the history of the Troop and its traditions. One very touching point was the small pouch at the side of the mounted soldier’s hat in which he would have secreted his love letters before going into battle.
The whole culture of the Troop has changed, possibly for the better, now it has enlisted more than 52% female troopers and officers. After we’d inspected the guns and harness, we particularly enjoyed going round the horse lines. The Troop uses black
and bay horses, all around 16.2, mainly Irish draught crosses from Ireland. They all seemed happy and relaxed. It is so impressive that they can harness and limber up more than 60 horses so quickly and put on such a dazzling display of man, machines, music and horses.
Every trooper we spoke to could not help mentioning the adrenaline buzz they and the horses get when performing. The crowd really appreciated the playing of the Welsh National Anthem for the March Past.
We were also keen to look round the cattle lines, and welcomed the many large fans keeping the cattle (and visitors) cool. There was a very good display of British White cattle. These are the cattle with a white coat and black points, primarily ears, muzzle and feet. They are very quiet and can live on into their 20s. The breed was struggling in the ’70s, but there are now more than 2,800 registered cattle, with classifying starting this year for the first time. There were five herds showing here, making up a very good representation of the breed.
These are not to be confused with the Chillingham white cattle in Northumberland, which is a feral wild breed. For 700 years this herd has been in isolation in its present setting. This herd is totally inbred, yet fit and healthy and was of interest to Charles Darwin. The thriving herd of 100 animals are one of the rarest in the world. However, my favourite breed of cattle at the show has to be the Welsh black. I greatly enjoy seeing fine specimens of this very traditional Welsh breed.
The main ring is always full of very watchable attractions, and the pony club games this year benefited from an international flavour which added to the frenetic competition. Competing teams came from countries including Ukraine, Scotland, Ireland, Luxembourg, France and Wales. It was just incredible how quickly the ponies could turn round the end pole and gallop on at full speed, while a running rider sprang onto their backs as they raced back to the finish line. Team changeovers were all immaculate, with no one dropping the baton. It was the best pony club games I’d ever seen.
We returned for a second day on Wednesday, though you could have attended all four days, and still not managed to see all the attractions. There was a huge entry of sheep, and going round the sheds, I couldn’t believe how many breeds of sheep exist, and how many were represented here. Each breed has their own individual markings, size and shape. The Welsh mule sheep were a goodsized breed with speckled heads and legs, black ears and distinguished curved heads. Ryeland sheep are smaller and used to be classified as a rare breed but are making a good recovery. As one of the oldest British breeds, they looked very tubby in appearance with round faces. The Llanwenog, a very Welsh breed, were also tubby and had black faces, ear and legs. I took a liking to the Wiltshire Horn, trim white sheep with attractive horns which were well represented at the show. The Border Leicesters have huge upright ears, like hares.
The Zwartables are very handsome black sheep with white striped faces with a white tip to their tails and white feet. The Dutch spotted sheep were very, very spotty! Extremely popular with the crowds, particularly the children, were the Valois Blackface, which have a very long coats, black faces, ears and feet. These are relatives of Shaun the Sheep and a ewe lamb costs more than £2,000, so they tend to be bought more for display and breeding value than food production.
It is obvious from the very many breeds of sheep, many of which are local to specific areas, that they have been bred over many years to suit local surroundings and weather patterns. It also means that they are a sustainable form of agriculture in the face of global warming and I really enjoyed learning more about the very different breeds. The ugliest I saw was the Beltex, and the rarest British breed was the sole representative of the Grey Faced Dartmoor with its very short sticking out ears.
The greatest highlight for me, and most of the crowd, is the final of the Welsh Cob stallions, always held on the Wednesday afternoon. Luckily the weather had turned cooler as the Welsh Cob stallions came crashing and broncing into the ring. As each stallion was energetically paraded in front of the grandstand, with its high stepping and extended action, the packed crowds surrounding the main arena erupted in enthusiastic roars.
The testosterone coming off these fine stallions was palpable as they carried out their individual displays for the judge to make his final decision. As the winner was announced, I was nearly deafened, as I was sitting just behind the breeder of the winning stallion.
One very striking element is the number of young farmers attending and the opportunity given for them to compete in a variety of events such as the tug of war and the Young Handlers. This is when a team of five winning dairy cattle of each breed are presented in the ring by five young handlers which must easily enthuse them for a future showing career. The tug of war could not be more popular and is fiercely competitive. Spectators, nearly all young people, lined up six deep to watch. The evening entertainment provided for the youth is legendary.
As we left, a fleet of free buses was bringing young people up from the town and it was already very crowded.
The music was loud, drink flowing and a good evening beckoned.
Ro Collingborn has been dairy chairman of the Women’s Food and Farming Union, on the Milk Development Council, the Veterinary Products Committee, the RSPCA Council and was a Wiltshire Wildlife Trust director