BCCS September Newsletter 2021

Newsletter 

Issue 143 

September 2021 

September Newsletter 21 amended council.indd 1 17/09/2021 12:15:06

Contents 

SALES 

Aberdeen 8 

Stirling 10 

Ballymena 14 

Welshpool 16 

Clogher 18 

Exeter 19 

Stirling 20 

Carlisle 22 

Swatragh 25 

2021 Autumn sale dates 15 

Charolais White Gold female sale 32 

SHOWS 

The Scottish Showcase 29 

National Charolais Show / Great Yorkshire Show 30 

ARTICLES & LATEST NEWS 

Council of Management 2021/22 4 

The Harman Awards 2021 26 

NOSTALGIA - 25 Years ago in the Charolais world 28 

Christmas jumper selfie competition 32 

Spring Selfie competition results 38 

Beef - can really have a great future 40 

Supply your EBV data - Ben Harman 41 

A unique grazing agreement 42 

High performing upland sheep and cattle farm 44 

Thurso Paul makes £20,000 in private deal 47 

Promotional Goods 47 

World Charolais Congress schedule 2022 48 

Caylers Charolais - A pedigree update from Harbro 50 

Fiona 25 years at Charolais 1996-2021 52 

NOSTALGIA 25 Years ago in the Charolais world 57 

Minutes of the AGM June 2021 63 

HERD BOOK 

Common registration queries 7 

Direct Debit and GDPR 9 

New entries onto the Semen Royalty Scheme 21 

Important notice to all vendors at Society sales 33 

DNA Information 34 

Sale & health reminders 35 

Checklists for importing animals, embryos or semen 36 

Sale entry requirements 57 

Advertising in the Charolais publications 2022 67 

OBITUARIES 

Ken Piper - Mortimers 54 

Bob Roberts - Brynffanigl 55 

Alasdair Houston - Gretnahouse 56 

REGIONAL REPORTS 

Scotland 58 

Northern Ireland (snippet) 59 

Border 59 

South East 60 

Wales 61 

Yorkshire & North East 62 

ISSN 2632-7589 

WWW.CHAROLAIS.CO.UK 

2 


Renewed confidence in the beef sector 

UK cattle prices have remained improved through 2021 so far, supported by lower cattle numbers and increased retail demand for 

domestic beef. However, several factors could have a bearing on prices going forward. 

AHDB data points to continued tightness in finished cattle numbers in both the UK and Ireland and this could offer price support. 

In addition, any continued strength in domestic retail demand will also be positive for prices. On the other hand, easing COVID-19 

restrictions and a rising population of vaccinated consumers is expected to lead to more demand from foodservice. 

However, activity in the eating out market is expected to remain considerably lower than pre-pandemic levels. Imported beef tends to 

do well in the food service market, so any increase in demand for imported beef in this sector may lessen support for domestic cattle. 

It will be important for domestic prices that out-of-home outlets back British beef. 

With the relaxation of Covid restrictions we reopened the office, but we will carry on using mobile phones alongside the main office 

numbers in the short term to cover us for any lapses in the covid recovery, a big thank you to all our staff again who gave up space in 

their houses to carry on their BCCS work. 

Moving on to this year’s autumn sales at Stirling, Ballymena, Welshpool and Carlisle we’re hoping to have our normal itinerary of 

shows and sales, please keep those DNA samples coming in within plenty of time to stop any disappointments when you enter your 

stock for the sales. 

Summer shows 

It was great to see some of our members at the shows that ran: 

The Royal Highland Show transformed itself into a live online show called the Scottish Showcase with Overall Champion MAERDY 

MORWR the 5-year-old from AJR farms. Standing reserve to the Charolais Champion was Best Female TOPHILL ROXANNE 

We took first place in the Continental Beef Interbreed Pair Championship, with the pair of HARESTONE MAMMAMIA and MAERDY 

MORWR both looking terrific on the day 

The Great Yorkshire Show 

MAERDY MORWR once again stole the show after his success in the Scottish Showcase, this time claiming the titles of Supreme 

Champion, Supreme Champion Interbreed Beef Animal, and forming one half of the Blythewood Continental Beef Pairs Championship. 

In reserve to Morwr in the Supreme Championship was another returning animal in HARESTONE MAMMAMIA who teamed up to win 

the Blythewood Continental Beef Pairs 

Marketing 

We now have over 31,000 (18,300 August 2020) Facebook followers who regularly get updates on what we’re doing and, as many of 

you know, we share as many of your successes as possible. 

The other posts we share are on eating beef and defending the beef industry against the anti- beef/farming articles on the 

environment. 

Charolais International, World Congress 2022 

Plans are at an advanced stage with all the farms and hotels visited by some of the committee members and we will publish the 

final itinerary in the next newsletter (a draft itinery can be found on page 49) and on our social media platforms, it isn’t just for 

international visitors but for anyone interested in Charolais… 

At the world Charolais International AGM held on 25 May former British Charolais Cattle Society Chairman and council 

member Chris Curry was elected President of Charolais International. Well done Chris a real honour for him and the society. 

Lastly 

As always, a big thank you to all our members who’ve been tremendous, working with us to carry out all the work during the 

pandemic, and from myself a big thank you to all our staff Rusmi, Rebecca, Fiona, Mandy and Charlotte who’ve 

worked some very long hours answering many queries and listened to many stories of adversity. 

No matter what happens in the future, Charolais will always have a bright future as we are the breed that 

improves all breeds… 

Looking forward to seeing many of you at the Autumn sales! 

Peter 

3 WWW.CHAROLAIS.CO.UK 


Council of Management 2021/22 

Mr D Barker (Southern England) 

Sable House 

Nuthampstead 

Royston 

Herts 

SG8 8NA 

Tel: 07798 518994 email: 

barkers.caylers@btinternet.com 

President (ex Officio) 

Mr WG Roberts 

Parc 

Llangadfan 

Welshpool 

Powys 

SY21 0PJ 

Tel: 07717 571940 

email: garethparc@aol.com 

Chairman / National 

Mr A P Drysdale 

Middle Drimmie 

Blairgowrie 

Perthshire 

PH10 7JD 

Tel: 07801 339550 

email: allendrysdale@hotmail.com 

Vice Chairman / National 

Mr J Price (Southern England) 

Oakchurch Farm 

Staunton-On-Wye 

Herefordshire 

HR4 7NE 

Tel: 07788 454454 

email: jeremy@oakchurchfarm.co.uk 

Hon Treasurer (ex officio) 

Mr G C Robinson 

Stockhill Lodge 

Elton 

Peterborough 

Cambs PE8 6SJ 

Tel: 07860 765338 

email: gcrobinson1961@gmail.com 

Chief Executive 

Mr Peter Phythian 

BCCS 

Avenue M 

Stoneleigh Park 

Kenilworth 

CV8 2RG, Warwickshire 

Tel: 07949 262293 

email: peter@charolais.co.uk 

Mr N Blyth (Northern England) 

Middleton House Farm 

Elwick 

Hartlepool 

Cleveland 

TS27 3EN 

Tel: 07977 997326 email: 

neilkirstyblyth@gmail.com 

Mr D Bothwell (Northern Ireland) 

St Angelo 

Ballina Mallard 

Co Fermanagh 

N Ireland 

BT94 2LR 

Tel: 07971 567988 email: 

d.s.bothwell@gmail.com 

Mr A J Clark (Scotland) 

Blackhill Farm 

Crossford 

Carluke 

Lanarkshire 

ML8 5QH 

Tel: 07904 114506 email: 

clarkblackhill@gmail.com 

Mr B Harman (National) 

Grove Farm 

Grove Lane 

Chesham 

Bucks 

HP5 3QN 

Tel: 07867 802823 email: 

benharman@btconnect.com 

Mr M A Milne (Scotland) 

Kennies Hillock 

Llanbryde 

Elgin 

Morayshire 

IV30 3LJ 

Tel: 07971 510965 email: 

elgincharolais@btinternet.com 

Mrs T Nicoll (Scotland) 

Home Farm 

Balthayock 

Perth 

PH2 7LG 

Tel: 0778 4891005 

email: tracey@balthayock.com 


4 


Mr R A Owen (National) 

Tynewydd 

Garthbeibio 

Foel 

Welshpool 

Powys 

SY21 0NR 

Tel: 07971 118547 email: 

arwel.owen@genusplc.com 

Mr W Owen (Wales) 

Braich Y Saint 

Criccieth 

Gwynedd 

LL52 0PW 

Tel: 07771 520442 email: 

w.owen@btconnect.com 

Complaints and Disciplinary Committee 

Andrew Hornall 

Iain Millar 

Ralph Needham 

Breedplan Technical Committee 

Arwel Owen (Chairman) 

Ben Harman 

Andrew Hornall 

Alastair Lyle 

Sean McGovern 

Jeremy Price 

Barbara Webster 

Mr A E Sellick (Southern England) 

Battins Farm 

Brompton Ralph 

Taunton 

Somerset 

TA4 2SG 

Tel: 07876 306310 email: 

andrew_sellick@yahoo.co.uk 

Mr W Short (Northern Ireland) 

Wood Park 

Beragh 

Omagh 

Co Tyrone 

N Ireland 

BT79 0UU 

Tel: 07968 085777 email: 

woodpark34@googlemail.com 

Mr D Thornley (Northern England) 

30a Main Street 

Hartshorne 

Swadlincote 

Derbyshire 

DE11 7ES 

Tel: 01283 819644 email: 

davidthornley39@gmail.com 

Mr B L Williams (Wales) 

Gwastod 

Llawr-Y-Glyn 

Abermeurig 

Lampeter 

Ceredigion 

Wales 

SA48 8PP 

Tel: 01570 470273/07809 146308 

Email: benllwydwilliams@gmail.com 

British Charolais office 

contacts 

Peter Phythian, Chief Executive 

Tel: 07949 262293 Email: peter@charolais.co.uk 

Mr Rusmi Parekh, Office manager 

Tel: 07377 119224 Email: rusmi@charolais.co.uk 

Mrs Rebecca Fraser, Society accounts , ETs, 

Inspections, Membership Tel: 07377 119307 

Email: rebecca@charolais.co.uk 

Mrs Fiona Warner, registrations, transfers, promotional 

goods, Charolais Journal/newsletter 

Tel: 07377 119345 Email: fiona@charolais.co.uk 

Miss Mandy Mooney, DNA testing 

Tel: 07377 119312 Email: dna@charolais.co.uk 

Miss Charlotte Ward, Performance recording, society 

sale entries, sale reports and social media queries Tel: 

07377 119233 Email: charlotte@charolais.co.uk 

Avenue M, Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, 

Warwickshire CV8 2RG Tel: 02476 697222 

Email: charolais@charolais.co.uk 

www.charolais.co.uk 



Society Council of Management Update 

We’re delighted to welcome two new Council 

members to the British Charolais Cattle Society. 

First up is Andrew Clarke who farms around 300 

acres at Blackhill Farm, in Lanarkshire. In June this 

year he set up a new farming partnership there with 

his wife Lindsey, and now they run 100 cows and 250 

pedigree Texel ewes. 

He bought his first pedigree Charolais cows in 1999, 

a few years later bought three more with calves 

at foot from a dispersal sale, and since then has 

gradually built up to the 10 pedigrees he has today. 

He says he’s ‘passionate’ about pedigree stock, 

hence his involvement with the Texel sheep. 

“Up to now we haven’t really had the facilities to 

do more with the Charolais,” he says. “But we’re 

planning a big upgrade of our facilities now, and this 

will enable us to move further into the breed. 

“The Charolais for me is the most profitable beef 

breed. Our suckler cows are mainly Aberdeen Angus 

and Limousin crosses, but all the cows go to the 

Charolais and the heifers to a Salers. 

“I love the Charolais for its easy fleshing, great growth rates 

and easy calving. We need to be able to sell on calves at 10 

months to finishers as we don’t grow any grain here.” 

Looking back to April of this year he says he Charolais x calves 

were reaching £1100/head at 440kgs from a ration of silage 

only, and working from an all-grass farm, he wants to sell 

calves as early as possible with minimal feed costs. 

With the new facilities he’s hoping to sell more pedigree bulls 

through Stirling in the future. 

Why did he stand for Council? “As I’ve said I’m passionate 

about pedigree animals and I have quite strong views about 

the beef industry. I think it will need to change a lot in the 

next five to 10 years and I’m really interested in pushing the 

breed forward and being part of it’s promotion. I’d 

like to get it in front of more people and can see 

plenty of opportunities in the future.” 

Andrew Clarke 

aims to produce. Calf prices have average £150/head which 

is a much better price, but he says extra costs from Covid and 

Brexit have taken the shine off a bit. 

He aims to continually improve his stock as David believes he is 

at the maximum numbers he can keep and manage well. 

Why did he stand for Council? “I’ve always been very 

interested in helping to develop the breed and there’s growing 

interest in them in the market. But we need to continually 

push ourselves forward. We can breed really good cattle and 

I want to be an active part of this breed as it moves forward. 

I’m particularly interested in myostatins and where this is 

taking us, and want to be more educated in what traits moving 

forward will be successful. I’m also looking forward to the 

World Congress here next year, and in seeing more Charolais 

bulls sold and an increase in membership.” 

Next, we turn to David Bothwell who farms 480 

acres, 275 owned and 205 rented at St Angelo 

House, Ballina Mallard, Enniskillen, Co Fernmanagh, 

Northern Ireland. He runs 120 commercial cows put 

to a Charolais bull, 25 pedigree Charolais and 180 

commercial ewes. 

He started with Charolais cattle in 1974, so has had 

them all his life, and started attending shows and 

sales at 16. “I always loved their temperament when 

crossed with a commercial cow, they are a great cow 

to work with, have superior growth rates and their 

character always appealed to me more than that of 

any other breed.” 

He runs four Charolais bulls and visually wants to 

see good locomotion and good myostatin figures. 

When he is selling weaned calves, he says customers 

will pay more for good quality, and that’s what he 

David Bothwell 


6 


COMMON REGISTRATION QUERIES 

SIRE AND DAM DNA, please ensure all sires and dams are DNA tested before registering their first progeny to 

avoid a delay in the pedigree certificate being issued. 

SIRE AND DAM OWNERSHIP, please check the sire and dam has been transferred into the members ownership 

where required prior to registering a calf. All animals must be DNA tested before the transfer can be 

completed. 

MISSING INFORMATION, please ensure all information is given ie: date of birth, tag number, calving easing, 

birth weight etc 

WRONG YEAR LETTER, please ensure the calf name begins with the correct letter for the year 

2021 - S, 2022 - T 

DUPLICATE NAMES & TAG NUMBERS, please check a calf name or tag number has not been previously used 

GESTATION LENGTH, please check the date of birth of the calf corresponds with the AI date. 

LETTER OF SERVICE, where a sire has been hired, please ensure the relevant letter of service has been 

forwarded to the office. 

REGISTRATIONS IN ON TIME, registrations should be submitted before 27 days of age to ensure no late fees 

are incurred. 

IMPORTS, please obtain the relevant 5 Generation Zootechnical Export Certificate (showing your details as 

the new member) from the relevant country in order to register any progeny. From 24th June 2021 all imports 

must be SNP tested, at least SV, Myostatin tested for F942 & Q204X and be tested free of Progressive Ataxia. 

CALF NOTIFICATIONS It is free to birth notify a calf within 27 days of birth, if at a later date you wish to fully 

register the calf the fees is the normal registration fee of £25.00 + VAT online or £32.50 + VAT paper/tel plus 

the standard late fee of £25.00 + VAT up to any age. 

EMAIL ADDRESS 

Please ensure the Society has the correct email address recorded for your membership. Please email us 

charolais@charolais with any changes to your email address along with your membership details. 

www.charolais.co.uk email: charolais@charolais.co.uk 



Aberdeen February 

Phantom, 

Piranha and 

Powerhouse 

top the 

Charolais at 

the Aberdeen 

Spring Sale 

Aberdeen and Northern Marts held 

their Spring Sale of pedigree bulls 

on Wednesday 24 February at the 

Thainstone Centre. With the highest 

number of animals entered in the 

sale, a small but high-quality offering 

of Charolais bulls saw three reach 

a high of 6,000gns, with eight bulls 

selling to average £5000.63 with a 62% 

clearance. 

A trio of bulls sold for the top price 

of the day at 6,000gns. First up was 

ELRICK PHANTOM, bred by Mr M J 

Massie of Ellon, Aberdeenshire. This 

22-month-old lad is sired by the easy 

calving Maerdy Gouverneur and out 

of Elrick Jackie, a daughter of the 

16,000gns bull Thrunton Fearless, who 

was the intermediate and supreme 

champion at Stirling in 2011. He will be 

making the journey to his new home in 

Fraserburgh to the home of G B Grieve. 

McGilliver’s farm at Ballindalloch. 

GLENERNAN PLUTO, bred by W & N 

Milne of Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, was 

the next best seller of the day reaching 

5,000gns. This February 2019 born lad 

is sired by Elgin Jagger who sold for 

17,000gns at Stirling in 2016. Pluto’s 

dam is Glenernan Fyne, a daughter 

of Mistral Ben. He will be heading to 

Fraserburgh to the farm of I Lumsden. 

BONNYKELLY PREMIUM born in 

September 2019, sold for 4,700gns and 

Top price at 6,000gns Elrick Phantom 

was the last of the Charolais lots to go 

through the ring. Bred by Mr R Leggat 

of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, this 

bull is sired by Kersknowe Jake, and out 

of Bonnykelly Maggie, a daughter of 

the 10,000gns bull Gretnahouse Ivory 

and was purchased by A J Beattie from 

Castle Farm, Nairn. 

The gavel came down twice at 

4,000gns, the first time for NEWLOGIE 

PRINCEERIC from AJR Farms of Ellon, 

Aberdeenshire. This 24-month-old 

bull is fully parent verified to Newlogie 

The second bull to reach 6000gns 

was AUCHINCRIEVE PIRANHA, 

bred by Mr C M McCombie of 

Huntly, Aberdeenshire. This bull is 

sired by Maerdy Express who sold 

for 45,000gns in 2011 and out of 

Auchincrieve Jody, a daughter of Olrig 

Highwayman. This May 2019 born bull 

was purchased by J Baxter from Banff. 

The last bull to go under the 

hammer at this price was KINCLUNE 

POWERHOUSE, from J A Wilson & 

Sons of Alford, Aberdeenshire. Sired 

by Goldies Ivan and out of Kinclune 

Gallica, a daughter of Thrunton 

Crownprince. This 20-month-old 

bull will be joining the herd at C G 

Auchincrieve Piranha at 6,000gns 


8 


Nobel and out of Newlogie Naya. He 

will be heading to Darnford, Banchory 

to the farm of P & M Watson. 

AUCHINCRIEVE PEDRO also secured 

4,000gns, another sired by the 

45,000gns bull Maerdy Express and 

out of Auchincrieve Janet, a daughter 

of Balbithan Vespasian who sold for 

26,000gns in 2006. This April 2019 born 

bull is bred by Mr C M McCombie from 

Huntly in Aberdeenshire and will head 

to his new home of P McMillan from 

Borrabus Farm, Islay. 

Bonnykelly Premium at 4,700gns 

Auchincrieve Pedro at 4,000gns 

BYE-LAW CHANGES 

The Bye-Laws have been changed in June 2021 and can be viewed on the Charolais website, 


Please could all members view the Bye-laws, for all changes, particularly for in the herd book. 

Any queries please ring the Charolais office. 

ARE YOU ON DIRECT DEBIT YET? 

IF NOT, YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON - 

• One month’s free credit 

• Statement sent at least 14 days prior to taking payment, emailed where we have an email address 

• Cheaper membership, saving of £5.00 + VAT 

• No postage, paper or envelope costs sending payments 

• Access to online and telephone registrations, ensuring calves are 

registered on time and no late fees incurred 

• Save time by no writing of cheques 

• Reduce carbon footprint 

Forms can be obtained from the Charolais website www.charolais.co.uk 

or contact the office on 02476 697222 

GDPR 

If you have noticed your details are not showing on the Charolais online database please 

contact the Charolais office. We require a GDPR form to be signed and forwarded to the 

office in order to do this. 

The forms can be downloaded from the Charolais website at www.charolais.co.uk. 



Stirling February 

There’s no 

phantom 

about this 

top price - 

BALLINLARE 

PHANTOM 

peaked at 

16,000gns 

Sunday 28 February saw United 

Auctions host their annual Spring Bull 

sale where Charolais, once again, came 

out on top. With current Government 

guidelines still in place, there was 

a good mixture of people buying in 

person, online and over the phone. 

Top price peaked at 16,000gns which 

levelled out to the average price of 

£7121, up by £347 per head on the 

previous year. A total of 93 animals 

were put forward with a 71% clearance 

rate. 

British Charolais Cattle Society CEO, 

Peter Phythian said he was pleased 

with the good strong commercial trade 

on the day, with the Charolais breed 

still in high demand. 

BALLINLARE PHANTOM was the top 

seller of the day reaching a top price 

of 16,000gns. This 20-month-old lad is 

bred by J H Wilson and Sons of Newry, 

Co. Down. Phantom’s sire, Balthayock 

Justice was Reserve Supreme 

Champion and was the top sale price 

at 50,000gns at Stirling in 2015. His 

dam Ballinlare Isis is sired by Goldies 

Carnival. The winning bidders, in a 

two-way split, were R M Adam & Son 

of Glamis, Angus, and M J Massie from 

Ellon, Aberdeenshire. 

Second top price of the day at 

14,000gns was SOLWAYFIRTH 

PETERPAN, bred by I & D Goldie 

in Annan, Dumfriesshire. This 

17-month-old lad is sired by the 

11,000gns Glenericht Majestic, his dam 

Solwayfirth Charity is the daughter of 

Maerdy Restful. He will be joining the 

herd at Hafod Yr Esgob Uchaf in Bala at 

the farm of G M Jones. 

A trio of bulls sold for the next highest 

price of 12,000gns. 

Top price at 16,000gns Ballinlare Phantom 

First to reach 12,000gns was ELGIN 

PELE from Mr R A Milne in Elgin, 

Morayshire. Described as ‘one of the 

better bulls in the yard’ the 22-monthold 

bull is by the easy calving Westcarse 

Houdini, his dam, Elgin Electra, is a full 

sister to the 20,000gns Elgin DaVinci 

and a daughter of Harestone Tyrol. The 

successful bidder was James Moir of 

Auchorties Farm, Banff. 

The second bull to reach 12,000gns 

was ELRICK PATRIOT, sired by Maerdy 

Gouverneur and bred by Mr M J 

Massie from Ellon in Aberdeenshire. 

Patriot is out of Elrick Lass, a daughter 

of Thrunton Fearless, the 2011 

Intermediate and Supreme Champion, 

who sold for 16,000 gns at Stirling. 

Patriot will be making the journey to 

his new home with J & W Kellas at 

Raws Farm, Keith. 

Solwayfirth Peterpan at 14,000gns Elgin Pele at 12,000gns Elrick Patriot at 12,000gns 


10 


Elrick Poldark at 12,000gns Thrunton Plato at 10,000gns Aultmore Phantom at 10,000gns 

The final bull to reach 12,000gns was 

also from the same stable of Mr M 

J Massie. The 20-month-old ELRICK 

POLDARK is the full brother to Elrick 

Outlaw who sold for 25,000gns and 

is the son of the easy calving Maerdy 

Gouverneur. His dam, Elrick Florida, 

is a daughter of 11,000gns Maerdy 

Dublin. He went home with Glass & 

Smith, Mills of Folis, Aberdeenshire. 

Four bulls went on to make 10,000gns, 

the first one to secure this bid 

was THRUNTON PLATO, bred by J 

H C Campbell & Sons of Alnwick, 

Northumberland. This 22-month-old 

Plato is sired by the 28,000gns Maerdy 

Jerusalam and is out of Thrunton Jessie 

J, a daughter of Burradon Garibaldi, 

who sold for 26,000gns at Stirling in 

2013. He will be joining the farm of W 

Pringle and Son, Yorkston Farm, Mid 

Lothian. 

The next to sell at 10,000gns was 

AULTMORE PHANTOM from the farm 

of W Patterson & Son from Keith, 

Bannfshire. Phantom is a very stylish 

bull from an easy calving line. His sire, 

Westcarse Houdini sold for 14,000gns 

in 2013. His dam is Aultmore Lassie, 

a daughter of Aultmore Gladiator. 

The men behind the money were R 

O Chandler & Co from Skirrid Farm, 

Abergavenny. 

E & M Fairhurst & Son from Bankend 

Farm, by Lancaster secured the next 

successful bid at 10,000gns who take 

home FALLENINCH PACO, a 21-monthold 

bull bred by Mr A B Hornall from 

Falleninch Farm, Stirling. Paco is 

fully parent verified and is sired by 

Falleninch Memo, out of Falleninch 

Libby, a daughter of Dereskit Fernando. 

The final bull to make 10,000gns was 

GOLDIES PAUL who comes from the 

farm of Mr H Goldie in Dumfries. 

This outstanding 18-month-old lad is 

out of Goldies Jo, a daughter of the 

easy calving Blelack Digger. His sire 

is Balthayock Marquis, who is known 

for easy calving. His new owner is J 

S Fraser from Toir Mains Farm, Ross- 

Shire. 

Just behind, with a bid of 9,000gns was 

CARWOOD PIONEER. The 20-monthold 

lad is sired by the 12,000gns 

Maerdy Magestic, a son of Maerdy 

Grenadier who sold for 20,000gns at 

Stirling in 2013. His dam, Carwood 

Hilda is a daughter of Elgin Emperor. 

This 20-month-old bull is bred by Mr 

& Mrs C J Wight of Biggar, Lanarkshire 

and will be joining the herd at Hyslop 

Farm in Moffat, Dumfriesshire. 

The next best seller was MIDSHIELD 

PAUL who sold for 8,500gns, bred by J 

& E Wight of Biggar, Lanarkshire. This 

fully parent verified 22-month-old 

bull is sired by Midlock John and out 

of Midshield Jazmin, the daughter of 

Maerdy Domino. He headed home 

with F & G Young of Balnowlart, 

Ayeshire. 

Eight seemed to be the number of the 

day with 8 lots selling for 8,000gns. 

The first two to sell at this price 

were from the Kersknowe herd of 

Mr J Jeffrey of Kelso, Roxburghshire. 

First to go under the hammer was 

KERSKNOWE PATRIOT, sired by 

Kersknowe McGregor, a son of 

Inverlochy Fencer who was junior and 

overall supreme champion and sold for 

20,000gns at Stirling in 2012. His dam, 

Kersknowe Iris is sired by Lagavaich 

Fernando. He made his way home with 

Duncan Macvicar from Middle Ballat 

Farm in Glasgow. 

Mr Jeffery’s second bull to make 

8,000gns was 22-month-old 

KERSKNOWE PROVOST who is sired 

by the 20,000gns bull Inverlochy 

Fencer. His dam, Kersknowe Icicle 

is another daughter of Lagavaich 

Fernando; he joins the herd at Craigton 

in Kirkcudbrightshire at the farm of A 

& J Craig. 

BALLINDALLOCH PILOT was next. This 

22-month-old lad is bred by Messrs R 

Irvine & F G Lawson of Ballindalloch, 

Falleninch Paco at 10,000gns Goldies Paul at 10,000gns Carwood Pioneer at 9,000gns 



Kersknowe Patriot at 8,000gns Kersknowe Provost at 8,000gns Ballindalloch Pilot at 8,000gns 

Banffshire. Sired by Goldies Icon, the 

2015 Reserve Junior Champion who 

sold for 10,000gns at Stirling. His dam, 

Ballindalloch Hilda is sired by Lochend 

Apache. He went home with R 

MacDonaldson & Son from Drumgask, 

Inverness-shire. 

THRUNTON PEGASUS was the next to 

reach 8,000gns, bred by J H C Campbell 

& Sons in Alnwick, Northumberland. 

Born in May 2019, this bull is sired by 

the 28,000gns Maerdy Jerusalem, and 

out of Thrunton Jubilant, a daughter of 

Thrunton Gladiator. He made his way 

to his new home in Inverness to the 

Leys Estate. 

MAERDY PASSION, bred by Mr D 

E Evans in Mold, Flintshire. This 

20-month-old is sired by Maerdy 

Figaro-W and out of Maerdy Jiffy, 

one of the best daughters of Meardy 

Dynamite in the herd. The winning bid 

of 8,000gns came from Bruce Mackie & 

Son from Huntly in Aberdeenshire. 

Next to sell at 8,000gns was 

HARESTONE POWERHOUSE, bred by 

R & N Barclay in Insch, Aberdeenshire. 

Sired by the 10,000gns Blelack 

Fabulous, and out of Harstone Denise, 

a daughter of Harestone Uruguy. His 

new owner is A McCornick & Co from 

Barnacles Farm in Dumfries. 

Mr H Goldie of Ruthwell, Dumfries 

secured the two final 8000gns bids. 

GOLDIES PIONEER was the first; this 

17-month-old lad is sired by the 2017 

Royal Highland Show Reserve Male 

Champion, Junior Male Champion and 

Reserve Junior Champion Tweeddale 

Matador. Out of Goldies Lottie, a 

daughter of Gretnahouse Heman. 

Pioneer will be making his way to his 

new home with J Kay & Sons to Oxton, 

Berwickshire. 

And finally, GOLDIES POWERHOUSE 

was the last to hit 8,000gns. This 

17-month-old is sired by Blelack 

Fabulous and out of Goldies Fabulous, 

a daughter of Goldies Uppermost who 

claimed the top price at Perth in 2005, 

selling for 34,000gns and was also 

Supreme and Junior Champion. The 

winning bid came from A J MacLean 

from Heylipol Farm from the Isle-of- 

Tiree. 

The gavel came down twice at 

7,500gns. The first to secure this 

price was 21-month-old AULTMORE 

POWERHOUSE from the farm of 

W Patterson and Son from Keith, 

Banffshire. He is sired by the 

30,000gns Dingle Hofmeister. His dam, 

Battleford Lola is sired by Lochend 

Apache. The successful bidder was W S 

L Muir from Stenness, Orkney. 

BALTHAYOCK POLITICIAN was the next. 

This 20-month-old lad comes from the 

herd of Major D F W H & N R Walter 

in Perth and is sired by Gretnahouse 

Lunar. His dam, Balthayock Insignia is a 

daughter of Blelack Forester. Politician 

was purchased by the Scottish 

Government Bull Stud. 

Just behind and selling for 7,200gns 

was the May 2019 born BALTHAYOCK 

PILGRIM, another from the herd 

of Major D F W H & N R Walter in 

Perth. Pilgrim’s sire is Gretnahouse 

Lunar who has proved to be very easy 

calving and produces well fleshed bulls 

with excellent temperaments. His 

dam, Balthayock Lotus is a daughter 

of Balthayock Dante. Pilgrim was 

purchased by J M Fisher Ltd from 

Leswalt in Stranraer. 

Also selling for 7,200gns was 

THRUNTON PATRIOT, an 18-month-old 

bull from the home of J H C Campbell 

and Sons in Alnwick. Patriot was sired 

by the 20,000gns Stirling Champion, 

Inverlochy Fencer, and caught the 

eye of G T & S Coghill, who took him 

home to Muce in Orkney. His dam is 

Thrunton Melody who is a daughter of 

Thrunton Gladiator. 

THRUNTON PEDRO is a good square 

21-month-old lad who comes from 

the same stable as Thrunton Patriot. 

His sire is the 28,000gns Maerdy 

Jerusalem; his dam, Thrunton Jackdaw 

is sired by Thrunton Gladiator. Pedro 

sold for 7,000gns and went home 

with W & A Strachan of Millfield, 

Aberdeenshire. 

Thrunton Pegasus at 8,000gns Maerdy Passion at 8,000gns Harestone Powerhouse at 8,000gns 


12 


Goldies Pioneer at 8,000gns Goldies Powerhouse at 8,000gns Tophill Roxanne at 4,800gns 

Another bull selling for 7,000gns was 

21-month-old CARWOOD PABLO. 

Pablo was brought to the market by 

his breeders Mr & Mrs C J Wight from 

Biggar, Lanarkshire. Pablo is out of 

Carwood Cherry, the daughter of Kelton 

Trident, and sired by Maerdy Magestic. 

He made his way to his new home in 

Maybole with J & A Dunlop 

Four females were entered for the sale. 

Up first, and reaching the top sale 

price of 4,800 gns, was TOPHILL 

ROXANNE from the stable of Mr A 

J Stott of Canonbie, Dumfires-shire. 

The 11-month-old Roxanne is sired 

by Hackleton Largerlout and her dam 

Hackleton Hetty is the daughter of 

Mulroog Alpine . 

Next in the ring was the second 

top priced female of day, selling for 

3,000gns. MORTIMERS PACHAMAMA 

caught the eye of Louise McArthur 

of Balfron Station, Glasgow. This 

16-month-old heifer is bred by 

Messrs Mortimers Farm in Eastleigh, 

Hampshire and is sired by Farleycopse 

Laurence, her dam, Mortimers 

Icemaiden, is sired by Baggrave Eskimo. 

The final two heifers to go under the 

hammer were CROOKDAKE PARIS and 

CROOKDAKE PROSECCO both bred by 

DA & SM Miller of Wigton, Cumbria. 

These were sold for a total of 4,800gns 

to E & M Fairhurst and Son, at Bankend 

Farm, Lancaster. 

Stirling Statistics 

Top 10 leading sires with a minimum of 3 bulls sold to qualify 

Sire Number sold Range (gns) Average (£) 

1 Maerdy Gouverneur 4 6000 - 12000 9,581.25 

2 Maerdy Jerusalem 5 5500 - 10000 7,770.00 

3 Maerdy Magestic 3 6000 - 9000 7,700.00 

4 Inverlochy Fencer 3 5200 - 8000 7,140.00 

5 Gretnahouse Lunar 4 6000 - 7500 7,061.25 

6 Blelack Fabulous 4 4000 - 8000 6,562.50 

7 Maerdy Figaro-W 4 3200 - 8000 6,168.75 

Top 10 leading herds with a minimum of 3 bulls sold to qualify 

Vendor Name Herd name Number sold Range (gns) Average (£) 

1 Mr M J Massie Elrick 3 6000 - 12000 10,500.00 

2 Mr H Goldie Goldies 3 8000 - 10000 9,100.00 

3 J H C Campbell & Sons Thrunton 7 5200 - 10000 7,410.00 

4 Major D F W H & N R Walter Balthayock 7 5200 - 7500 6,690.00 

5 Mr D E Evans Maerdy 8 3200 - 8000 5,880.00 

6 R & N Barclay Harestone 4 5000 - 8000 5,853.75 



Ballymena March 

Woodpark Presley 

and Birches 

Prettylady top the 

bids at Ballymena 

at 6,000gns 

Saturday 6 March saw the Northern 

Ireland Charolais Club host their 

annual Charolais Bull Sale for the first 

time at Ballymena Livestock Market, 

with a mix of bidding happening in 

person, online and over the phone due 

to the current COVID-19 restrictions 

still in place. A steady trade took place 

which saw the two top selling animals 

go for 6,000gns each. A further 11 

bulls sold with an average price of 

£3081. 

Top price bull of the day, at 6,000gns 

was WOODPARK PRESLEY, bred by Mr 

W Short of Omagh, Co. Tyrone. This 

19-month-old bull is sired by the easy 

calving Deeside Gulliver and out of 

Woodpark Ellie, a daughter of Major. 

The hammer went down with a bid 

from W J Fraser & Son who took him 

home to Banffshire. 

The next highest price, with a bid of 

3,400gns, was PINEHILL RONALDO, 

Birches Prettylady at 6,000gns 

bred by Mr 

C Todd of Lisburn, Co. Down. He was 

sired by Mornity Nero, out of Pinehill 

Naomi, a daughter of the easy calving 

Blelack Digger. This 14-month-old 

lad caught the eye of A McMullan 

and made his way to his new home in 

Castlewellan, Co. Down. 

The third top price of the day, with a 

bid of 3,300gns was for the 2019 born 

MOUNTJOY PAGAN, bred by Mr C O 

Mcaskie of Omagh, Co. Tyrone. His 

sire, Montgomery Ianto is the 2014 

Royal Welsh Reserve Male Champion 

and Reserve Junior Champion. His 

dam, Mountjoy India, is the daughter 

of Corrie Alan, the 19,000gns Reserve 

Junior 

Champion 

from Perth 

in 2006. The 

successful 

bidder and 

taking him 

home was S 

J Mcilmurray 

of 

Dungannon, 

Co. Tyrone. 

The 

23-monthold 

Woodpark Presley at 6,000gns 

ROYALDOWNS PABLO sold for the 

next highest bid of 3,000gns. Sired 

by Hideal and out of Drumfin Damsel, 

in turn a daughter of Doonally 

Ducdenever, he was bred by M 

McKeown Esq of Downpatrick, Co. 

Down. He made his journey to his new 

home in Limavady, Co. Londonderry to 

the farm of Mr N Blair. 

OVILL PRIME is bred by the O’Kane 

Bros from Dungiven, Co. Londonderry. 

Prime sold for 2,900gns and caught 

the eye of H Small of Ballymena, Co. 

Antrim. This 17-month-old lad is 

parent verified, sired by Ovill Lancelot, 

his dam is Ovill Jessica, a daughter of 

Doonally Nicefor. 

Next was 20-month-old ROYALDOWNS 

PATROL who sold for 2,800gns, sired 

by the 18,000gns Thrunton Fairfax, his 

dam, Royaldowns Erica is the daughter 

of Allanfauld Velocity. Patrol is also 

from the stable of M McKeown Esq 

of Downpatrick, Co. Down, and went 

home with J Wilson of Ballyclare, Co. 

Antrim. 

Also selling for 2,800gns was 

17-month-old DRUMACRITTEN PAUL 

from the stable of Mr G Nelson of 

Rosslea, Co. Fermanagh. Sired by 

Whitecliffe James, this lads dam, 

Drumacritten Marylou is the daughter 

of Maerdy Dublin, who sold for 

11,000gns in Carlisle in 2009. The 

successful bidder was Mr S Dobbin of 

Ballycastle, Co. Antrim. 

WOODPARK PABLO is bred by Mr 


14 


W Short of Omagh, Co. Tyrone. This 

20-month-old lad is sired by the easy 

calving Deeside Gulliver, his dam, 

Woodpark Jan is sired by Rumsden 

Fawkes. Pablo caught the eye of Mr 

W Hanna of Kilkeel, Co. Down who 

secured their purchase with a bid of 

2,700gns. 

WOODPARK PIXEL, is another from 

the stable of Mr W Short of Omagh, 

Co. Tyrone. This bull is 19- monthsold 

and is fully parent verified. His 

sire is Deeside Gulliver and his dam 

is Woodpark Nectar. Pixel sold for 

2,600gns and went home with J Lavery 

from Lurgan, Co. Armagh. 

The 2019 born ALTNADEROG PAJO, he 

sold for 2,500gns, and came from the 

herd of M G & G McShane of Strabane, 

Co. Tyrone. Sired by Deeleview Horace, 

out of Burnside Lappy, a daughter of 

Conval Frank, Reserve Intermediate 

Champion at Stirling in 2012 who sold 

for 13,000gns. Pajo went home with 

Mr M Dooher of Strabane. 

Top price female of the day, with 

a bid of 6,000gns, was BIRCHES 

PRETTYLADY, bred by Mr & Mrs N 

Matchett or Portadown, Co. Armagh. 

This 25-month-old heifer is sired by 

Elgin Jackman, out of Tawny Jasmine, 

who is sired by Doonally New. 

Prettylady’s successful bidder was 

Simone McCabe of Castleblaney, Co. 

Monaghan. 

The 28-month-old BROGHER OMYGIRL 

was the final female to sell, with 

the hammer going down on a bid of 

3,400gns. She was bred by Mr T Phair 

of Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh. Omygirl 

is sired by the 26,000gns Balbithan 

Vespasian, out of Brogher Fancygirl, 

a daughter of Lyonsdemesne Tzar. 

Omygirl made her way home with Mr K 

Murphy of Newry, Co. Down. 

Pinehill Ronaldo at 3,400gns 

Brogher Omygirl at 3,400gns 

2021 Autumn Sale Dates 

Carlisle 1 October, 19 November (White Gold Female Sale) 

Auctioneers: Harrison & Hetherington Ltd Tel: 01228 406230 

Stirling 18/19 October 

Auctioneers: United Auctions Ltd Tel: 01786 473055 

Swatragh 5 November (Club Sale) 

Auctioneers: Swatragh Livestock Market Tel: 028 7940 1246 

Welshpool 11 November 

Auctioneers: Welshpool Livestock Sales Ltd Tel: 01938 553438 

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL VENDORS AT SOCIETY SALES 

Prior to entering all animals for a 

Society Sale they MUST 

a) have a hair sample processing at the laboratory at the time of entering an 

animal into a sale. 

or 

b) have their dna testing already fully completed. 

Animals WILL NOT be Accepted into any society sale unless their DNA 

sample is either in process or 

has been completed. 

Having a pending sample stored in the office will not count unless you have asked for it to be processed prior to making 

your entry into the sale and this must be before the closing date. 



Welshpool April 

Cheers to 

Peroni as 

he tops 

Welshpool 

sale 

Although COVID-19 restrictions are 

slowly beginning to ease, it was still not 

possible to have the much-anticipated 

pre-sale show. The breeders did, 

however, have the opportunity to 

parade their bulls shortly before the 

sale, with the auctioneers providing an 

informative commentary for each bull 

forward. 

We saw a steady trade with 23 bulls 

selling to average £4419.13, with a 58% 

clearance. The demand for a modern 

Charolais bull continues to remain 

strong and this was reflected in the 

sale. 

Caylers Charolais of Caylers Farm, 

Nuthampstead, Nr Royston, 

Hertfordshire secured the top price 

of the day at 7,600gns with their bull 

CAYLERS PERONI. This 15-month-old 

bull is sired by First and out of Caylers 

Neeve, a daughter of Rosanna Jupiter. 

Peroni will be heading to his new home 

with E G Morgan of Blaencar, Brecon, 

Powys. 

BRAMPTON PANCAKE, bred by MR G 

W Turner of Brampton Hall, Skelton On 

Ure, Ripon, North Yorkshire secured 

the second best price of the day, selling 

for 7,300gns. A son of Border Jamboree 

out of Brampton Nala, and a daughter 

of Brampton Hamish. This September 

2019 born bull heads off to Shropshire. 

The hammer came down at 6,000gns 

for the 23-month-old MONTGOMERY 

PRELUDE, bred by Roberts & Jones of 

Parc, Llangadfan, Welshpool, Powys. 

Sired by Gretnahouse Jugular, who 

goes back to the easy calving Blelack 

Digger. Prelude is out of a Balmyle 

Harlequin daughter, Montgomery 

Meirwen. This bull caught the eye of 

Morgan & Son of The Farm, Dutlas, 

Powys. 

Selling at 5,600gns was OAKCHURCH 

RUSTIC, one of the younger bulls in 

the catalogue and bred by J & A Price 

of Oakchurch Farm, Staunton-On-Wye, 

Herefordshire. This 14-month-old bull 

is a son of the 18,000gns bull Thrunton 

Fairfax out of Oakchurch Glamourgirl, 

a daughter of the easy calving Blelack 

Digger. This lad was purchased by RI & 

G Davies of Penlanlwyd, Powys. 

Two bulls went under the hammer at 

5,000gns. First up was CHAMERAN 

PATTON, bred by Highfields Park 

Farm, (Mr D Ross) Highfields, Beech 

Green Lane, Withyham, Sussex. Fully 

parent verified to Chameran Icarus 

and Edenhurst Louise, a daughter of 

the 10,000gns bull Ratoary Ferguson. 

This October 2019 born bull heads 

off to start work 

at Richards & Co 

of Maenllengen, 

Newton, Powys. 

Next to be knocked 

down at 5,000gns 

was CAYLERS 

PRINCE, another 

bull from the Caylers 

Charolais stable. 

Born in November 

2019, this lad is sired 

by the 22,000gns 

bull Maerdy Ignition 

and out of Caylers 

Lime, a daughter 

of Gretnahouse 

Ultimate. Securing 

the winning bid was 

Caylers Peroni top price at 7,600gns 

C J Jones of Brondrefawr, Pantydwr, 

Powys. 

The gavel came down twice at 4,500gns 

with SPORTSMANS PREMIER the first 

to get this price. This 18-month-old 

bull is bred by Boden & Davies Ltd, 

Mellor Hall Farm, Mellor, Nr Stockport, 

Cheshire. Sired by the 40,000gns 

bull Maerdy Newman and out of 

Sportsmans Nadia, a daughter of the 

70,000gns bull Barnsford Ferny. This 

lad was snapped up by G W Williams of 

Panygwyn, Pwllheli, Gwynedd. 

The second bull to bang down 

at 4,500gns was CHESHAM 

POTEMKINE, bred by Mr B Harman, 

Grove Farm,Grove Lane, Chesham, 

Buckinghamshire. Born in October 

Brampton Pancake at 7,300gns 


16 


Montgomery Prelude at 6,000gns 

Oakchurch Rustic at 5,600gns 

Chameron Patton at 5,000gns 

Caylers Prince at 5,000gns Sportsmans Premier at 4,500gns Chesham Potemkine at 4,500gns 

2019, this bull is sired by the easy 

calving Balthayock Musketeer and out 

of Chesham Leona, a daughter of the 

18,000gns bull Thrunton Fairfax. Davies 

Bros secured the bid and Potemkine 

heads to the home of Gelli Lwca Fach 

Farm, Pontydwei. 

Six bulls reached 4,000gns. First up was 

the May 2019 bull MAERDY PROPLAN, 

bred by Mr D E Evans of Monfa, 

Gwernaffield Road, Mold, Flintshire. 

A son of Maerdy Figaro-W and out of 

Maerdy Enid, a daughter of Vald’Or-Ra, 

another to go under the hammer to RI 

& G Davies of Penlanlwyd, Powys. 

TRANNON PARKER followed, this time 

bred by Mr J A Williams of Llechwedd 

Ddyrys, Caersws, Powys. Parker is by 

Tutbury Napoleon and out of Trannon 

Juicy, a daughter of Wesley Evolution. 

This August 2019 born lad heads off 

to JE & SJ Roberts of Pantybriallu, 

Welshpool. 

CHESHAM PROMETHEUS, also from 

the stable of Mr B Harman, was the 

third bull to go under the hammer 

at 4,000gns, also born in October 

2019 and sired by the easy calving 

Balthayock Musketeer. This bull is out 

of Chesham Juniper, another daughter 

of the 18,000gns bull Thrunton Fairfax, 

with I Williams, Ty Canol, Dolbenmaen, 

Gwynedd securing the bid. 

The fourth bull to go at 4,000gns was 

HENDY POPE, bred by Mr J A W Rees 

of Nantyrhendy, Llangurig, Llanidloes, 

Powys. This 17-month-old bull is sired 

by Lisnagre Nero and out of Hendy 

Gentle, a daughter of Killadeas Contact. 

His new owners D A Williams will 

be taking him home to Nant Y Ffin, 

Llandilo. 

MAERDY PATHOS followed, again bred 

by Mr D E Evans. Born in November 

2019, this bull is sired by the easing 

calving Blelack Fabulous, his dam 

Maerdy Meirwenwen is another 

daughter of Vald’Or-Ra. This lad will 

be making his way to B G Clarke of 

Premier Barton Farm, Exeter. 

The last of the bulls to reach the bid of 

4,000gns was PENFOUND RALLYTALLY, 

a son of Burradon Talisman and out 

of Penfound Grandgirl, a daughter of 

Cargriff Caesar. This January 2020 born 

bull is bred by R S & S M Hopper of 

Penfound, Poundstock, Bude, Cornwall 

and will be heading to his new home 

at E & H Chapman of Morfodion, 

Llanidloes, Powys. 

There were two in-calf cows with 

calves at foot to follow the bull trade, 

both bred by Mr G G Morris. First to 

come into the ring and the top price 

female of the day was the 2015 born 

CARGRIFF LIBERTY with her heifer calf 

at foot CARGRIFF RONA. Liberty is sired 

by Cargriff Homer and out of Tynewydd 

Sonia, a daughter of Gower Nautical. 

This unit went under the hammer at 

3,100gns and was purchased by RWL 

& JE George of Middle Hasguard Farm, 

Pembrokeshire 

Concluding the sale was CARGRIFF 

LAVENDER, also born in 2015 and 

with her heifer calf at foot CARGRIFF 

ROSEMARY. Lavender also sired by 

Cargriff Homer, is out of Blelack Angela, 

a daughter of Thrunton Socrates. This 

unit was purchased for 2,600gns and 

will also be heading to the home of 

Morgan & Son of The Farm, Dutlas, 

Powys, their second purchase of the 

day. 

Declarations 

at Society 

Sales 

All VET declarations at 

Society sales will be 

placed on the pen card 

and marked as yellow on 

the lot number. 



Clogher April 

The evening of Friday 23 April saw 

the first Society sale to take place at 

Clogher, having previously been held 

at Dungannon. A steady trade took 

place over the course of the evening, 

resulting in 15 bulls being sold, with 

an average price of £3,241 and a 

whopping 79% clearance. 

The 20-month-old BROWNHILL 

PADDYRABBIT had the honour of 

reaching the highest price of the day, 

maxing out at 4,500gns. Paddyrabbit is 

from the herd of the Devine Brothers 

from Strabane, Co. Tyrone and was 

born to Brownhill Ella, a daughter of 

Shaen Topper. His sire is Mullaghbane 

Topline, a son of the highly regarded 

Doonally New. Paddyrabbit has quite 

the legacy to live up to, as Doonally 

New was known for his impressive 

gestation length and beef yield EBVs. 

His great potential caught the eye of 

Mr T Whileside, and he will be making 

his way to his new home in Greysteel, 

Co. Londonderry. 

The second-highest price of the 

day, at 4,200gns, was secured by 

MAGHERAGART PINNACLE, an 

attractive 19-month-old from the 

herd of Mr J Donnelly of Dromore, 

Co. Tyrone. Pinnacle has several high 

sellers in his lineage: his sire is the 

22,000gns Newhouse Bigal, and his 

dam, Mountjoy Infanta, is a daughter 

of the 30,000gns Balmyle Bollinger. 

The lucky new owner of Pinnacle is F 

Smyth, who will be introducing him to 

their herd in Omagh, Co. Tyrone. 

Two lots reached the third-highest 

price of 3,800gns. The first of 

which was for the 16-month-old 

MOORLOUGH PICADOR, who was 

bred by Mr J McBride of Strabane, 

Co. Tyrone. Picador’s twin brother, 

MOORLOUGH PARKER also sold, 

for a price of 2,600gns. The twins’ 

Brownhill Paddyrabbit sold for 4,500gns exhibited by Devine Bros 

sire, Clyth Diplomat, was the Junior 

Champion at Stirling in 2009, and 

sold for 16,000gns. Their dam is 

Moorlough Heighlight, a daughter of 

the tremendously successful Thrunton 

Voldemort. The brothers are sure to 

make their new owners very happy 

once they have settled into their new 

homes. Picador will be going home 

to Tirgarve, Co. Armagh, with Mr A 

Sloane, whilst Parker will be heading 

back with Mr S McAleer to their farm 

in Pomeroy, Co. Tyrone. 

Also selling for 3,800gns was BROGHER 

PRINTER, from the herd of Mr T Phair 

of Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh. Printer 

has inherited some of the best traits 

of his predecessors, boasting a good 

calving ease EBV from his sire, Blelack 

Fabulous, and the fantastic growth 

rates from his dam, Brogher Josephine 

– a daughter of the ever-popular 

Blelack Digger. This promising young 

bull attracted the attention of Mr C 

Maxwell, who will be taking him back 

to his farm in Clough, Downpatrick, Co. 

Down. 

Another bull from Mr T Phair’s herd, 

BROGHER PRESIDENT, secured the 

next highest bid of 3,600gns. This 

17-month-old was born to Brogher 

Emmy, a daughter of Sang-D’or, and 

was sired by the 11,000gns Woodpark 

Elgin, a son of the 19,000gns Corrie 

Alan. President will be making his way 

to Newtownstewart, Co. Tyrone, to the 

farm of S & R Millar. 

Coming in at the next highest price 

of 3,400gns was DRUMCONNIS 

RELENTLESS. This promising 13-monthold 

comes from the herd of Mr J 

McGrath of Omagh, Co. Tyrone, and 

boasts a phenomenal calving ease 

EBV of +20.5%, placing him in the top 

1% for this trait. Relentless was sired 

by the French bull First, who is well 

known for his exceptional calving ease. 

His dam is the easy-calving Fairway 

Happydawn, another daughter of 

Blelack Digger. He is sure to integrate 

well into his new herd in Cookstown, 

Co. Tyrone, courtesy of winning bidder 

Mr P Parke. 

Brownhill Paddyrabbit sold for 

4,500gns exhibited by Devine Bros 






18 




Also possessing a good calving ease 

EBV, and reaching a price of 3,200gns, 

was RATOARY REDBULL. A local bull, 

Redbull comes from the herd of Mr 

S McGovern of Clogher, Co. Tyrone. 

He was born to Knockshe Irine, a 

daughter of Mogador, and sired by 

the Supreme Champion at Balmoral in 

2016, Stranagone Jones – another of 

Blelack Digger’s numerous offspring. 

This handsome 15-month-old will 

be welcomed to his new home in 

Fivemiletown, Co. Tyrone with buyer J 

Jackson. 

Selling for 2,800gns was one of the 

older bulls forward for sale: the 

21-month-old KILLADEAS PADDY. 

Paddy was bred by S & D Bothwell of 

Ballina Mallard, Co. Fermanagh, and 

was sired by the 11,000gns Battleford 

Laser and out of the easy-calving 

Killadeas Irene, another daughter of 

Blelack Digger. He caught the eye of A 

& R Wauchob, who will be taking him 

back to Newtownstewart, Co. Tyrone. 



Minutes earlier, the first sale of the 

day was secured by ROYALDOWNS 

PRESIDENT at 2,700gns. This handsome 

fellow was born in April 2019 to 

Royaldowns Gigi, a daughter of Maerdy 

Impeccable, and sired by the easycalving 

Fiston. President originates 

from the well-established herd of M 

McKeown Esq. of Downpatrick, Co. 

Down, and will also be heading back to 

Newtownstewart with A & R Wauchob. 

14-month-old CRUMMER RANGER 

managed to fetch a sum of 2,600gns 

for his breeder, Mr A Dunne of 

Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh. Ranger was 

sired by the easy-calving Whitecliffe 

James, a son of Blelack Digger, and his 

dam is Tannaghmore Nova, a daughter 

of the 8,000gns Blelack Blackberet. 

This handsome young bull caught the 

attention of Mr E Lindsay, and he will 

soon be settling into his new home at 

Florencecourt, Enniskillen. 

Two bulls sold for a final price of 



2,500gns, the first being WOODPARK 

PLATINUM. The 17-month-old bull 

was bred by Mr W Short of Omagh, 

Co. Tyrone, and was born to Maerdy 

Inbred, a daughter of Froufrours. Like 

the previously mentioned Brogher 

President, Platinum was also sired by 

the 11,000gns Woodpark Elgin. He 

will be heading back to Lisnaskea, Co. 

Fermanagh with Mr K Little. 

Also coming in at 2,500gns was 

MONIENDOGUE ROBERT, from the 

herd of Mr J Maguire of Belleek, Co. 

Fermanagh. Robert was the youngest 

bull forward for sale over the course 

of the evening, at only 13 months 

old. Sired by the 13,000gns Conval 

Frank and out of Deerfin Tina, another 

daughter of Doonally New, Robert is 

certain to fit in well with his new herd 

in Ballinamallard, Co. Fermanagh, 

under the care of Mr C Morrow. 

Pilot flies high at Exeter 

It was quality over quantity at the Exeter Livestock Centre on Friday 23rd April, as three attractive bulls found new homes. The 

average selling price came to £3,220. 

The lot securing the highest bid of 3,200gns was the 23-month-old DOWNTOWN PILOT, from the herd of Mr B W J Lavis in 

Okehampton, Devon. Pilot was sired by Glenrock Lorenzo, who boasts impressive growth EBVs across the board, and out of the easycalving 

Downtown Jazz. This handsome fellow will be going home with A & J M Hembrow, back to Lostwithiel, Cornwall. 

The remaining two bulls to be sold over the course of the day both secured prices of 3,000gns. The first of these was FOXACRE 

PERADVENTURE, from the well-established herd of Mrs A Orr-Ewing in Swindon, Wiltshire. Sired by Graiggoch Lad, and out of 

Foxacre Idille, this 23-month-old also caught the eyes of A & J M Hembrow, and he is sure to settle in nicely at his new home in 

Lostwithiel. 

The final sale of the day, also for 3,000gns, went to the youngest bull entered: PENFOUND RAWHIDEOZZIE. This charming 14-monthold 

was bred by R S & S M Hopper, from Bude, Cornwall, and was born to Penfound Minxy – a daughter of Penfound Genius. His sire 

was Maxworthy Ozzie, a son of the phenomenally easy-calving Wesley Equinox. This young bull offers a great deal of potential, and 

grabbed the attention of B P Potbury, who will be taking him home to Wellington, Somerset. 



Stirling May 

Pringle 

headlines 

at Stirling in 

crisp bidding 

Charolais once again returned to 

Stirling for United Auctions’ bull sale on 

Sunday 2 May 2021, where bids flowed 

freely both in-person and remotely via 

the internet and phone. While the late 

spring sale is typically smaller than its 

February counterpart, there was no 

compromise on the quality of animals 

present. A total of 21 bulls were sold, 

resulting in a clearance rate of 58% and 

an average price of £5,615, up £370 on 

last year’s lockdown sale. 

The highest bid of the afternoon, at 

9,500gns, was secured by PANMURE 

PRINGLE from the herd of J M Cant & 

Partners of Arbroath, Angus. Pringle 

is the latest in his paternal lineage to 

reach impressive prices. His sire is the 

12,000gns Elrick Jester, and his grandsire 

is Thrunton Fearless, who reached 

a price of 16,000gns in 2011. Pringle’s 

dam is Panmure Isabella, a daughter 

of the popular Blelack Digger. This 

attractive 16-month-old bull is already 

showing great potential with a 200-day 

weight EBV of +38, placing him firmly 

in the top 1% for this trait. Pringle will 

be making his way to Fortrose, Rossshire, 

to the farm of winning bidder J H 

Anderson. 

Reaching the second highest bid 

of 8,000gns was the 19-month-old 

THRUNTON PIONEER. Pioneer was 

bred by J H C Campbell and Sons of 

Alnwick, Northumberland, and is 

backed up with a notable lineage. He 

was born to Thrunton Flamenco, a 

daughter of the 22,000gns Newhouse 

Bigal, and sired by the 26,000gns 

Balmyle Dickler. Pioneer will be going 

home with W Pringle & Son to their 

farm in Gorebridge, Midlothian. 

Two bulls sold for the next highest 

prices of 7,500gns, both of which are 

also from the herd of J H C Campbell 

and Sons. The first to sell was 

THRUNTON PELE, one of the older 

bulls in the running at 22 months-old. 

Pele is sired by Maerdy Jerusalem, who 

reached a price of 28,000gns at Stirling 

in 2015, and his dam is Thrunton 

Malibu, a daughter of Thrunton 

Gladiator. He caught the attention of B 

Kier & Son, who will be introducing him 

to their herd in Alford, Aberdeenshire. 

Also reaching 7,500gns was Pele’s 

younger cousin, THRUNTON PONTIAC. 

Pontiac boasts an impressive +14.6 

Panmure Pringle top price at 9,500gns 

calving ease EBV, a trait that’s 

prominent in his ancestry. His sire, 

Thrunton Nevada, is a son of the 

notoriously easy-calving Blelack Digger, 

and his dam is another of Thrunton 

Gladiator’s daughters, Thrunton 

Josephina. Pontiac is certain to settle 

in nicely at his new home in Blackhills, 

Peterhead, under the care of A & L 

Craig and Co. 

The 20 month-old NEWLOGIE 

PRINCIPAL achieved the next highest 

price of 6,000gns. Principal was bred by 

AJR Farms of Ellon, Aberdeenshire and 

was sired by the easy-calving Newlogie 

Nobel. His dam, Maerdy Modryb, is a 

daughter of Maerdy Hearthrob, who 

sold for 26,000gns at Stirling in 2014. 

He will be heading back to Grantownon-Spey, 

Morayshire, with J & J 

Marshall. 

A trio of bulls achieved a price of 

5,500gns, the first of which was 

LOGANBAR PETROUS. A local bull, this 

20 month-old hails from the farm of 

Thrunton Pioneer at 8,000gns 

Thrunton Pele at 7,500gns 

Thrunton Pontiac at 7,500gns 


20 


Newlogie Principle at 6,000gns 

Mr D M Lyle of Dunblane, Perthshire. 

Petrous has exhibited excellent growth 

rates throughout his life and has grown 

into a strapping lad with plenty of 

bulk behind him. He was sired by the 

Irish-born Lisnagre Jamson and out 

of Loganbar Isabella, a daughter of 

Wesley Fixture. The winning bidder was 

J D Bilsland, who will be introducing 

Petrous to his herd in Croftamie, 

Glasgow. 

Two sibling heifers’ calves from the 

herd of Mr & Mrs J W Millar in Port of 

Mentieth, Stirlingshire, also sold for 

5,500gns. First to sell was LOCHEND 

PEDRO, a charming 18 month-old born 

to dam Lochend Nuvette, a daughter 

of the award-winning Gretnahouse 

Archangel. Pedro’s sire is Gretnahouse 

Ming, a son of the tremendously easycalving 

Wesley Equinox. Pedro will be 

making his way to his new home at 

the farm of M Dykes in Kilmarnock, 

Ayrshire. 

Hot on his brother’s heels, and selling 

only moments later, was LOCHEND 

PLUTO. Pluto was also sired by 

Gretnahouse Ming, but was born 

instead to Lochend Nova, a daughter 

of the easy-calving Mortimers Echo. 

This impressive family history of calving 

ease has continued through Pluto, who 

is within the top 1% for both calving 

ease and birth weight EBVs. Pluto’s 

lucky new owner is Mr Turner of Strath 

Lochend Pedro at 5,500gns 

Balthayock Patrician at 5,000gns 

Farm, Campbeltown. 

GOLDIES PILAR managed to secure the 

next highest bid of 5,200gns. This 18 

month-old was bred by the well-known 

Mr H Goldie of Ruthwell, Dumfries. 

He was sired by the award-winning 

Tweeddale Matador, who sold for 

a price of 10,500gns in 2017, and is 

out of Goldies Icequeen, a daughter 

of Goldies Formidable. Pilar will be 

heading up to Inverness, to the Scottish 

Government’s Bull Stud facility at 

Knocknagael. 

The hammer came down a total of 

three times at 5,000gns, firstly for 

HARESTONE PERU, a charming young 

bull from the herd of R & N Barclay 

in Insch, Aberdeenshire. Peru was 

born to Harestone Julie, a daughter 

of Blelack Digger, and was sired by 

Lochend Pluto at 5,500gns 

Harestone Hercules. Hercules’ excellent 

growth EBVs appear to have been 

inherited by Peru, who has shown 

consistently above-average growth 

across the board. Peru will be going to 

his new home at Southwick Farms in 

Southwick, Dumfries. 

Next to sell at 5,000gns was GOLDIES 

PARKER, a sibling of Goldies Pilar. This 

17 month-old was born to Goldies 

Jade, another daughter of the highyielding 

Goldies Formidable. Like 

his brother, Parker was also sired 

by Tweeddale Matador, who has a 

proven record of producing progeny 

with both high calving ease and high 

performance. Parker will soon be 

beginning the long journey all the way 

up to Stromness, Orkney, to the farm of 

buyer W S L Muir. 

The final bull to sell for 5,000gns was 

BALTHAYOCK PATRICIAN, from the 

herd of Major D F W H & N R Parker of 

Balthayock, Perth. Patrician has a great 

deal of potential, showing consistently 

high growth rates, and carrying two 

copies of the sought-after F94L gene. 

He was sired by Balthayock Influence, 

and out of Balthayock Lizzy, a daughter 

of the 20,000gns Maerdy Grenadier. 

This promising young 16 month-old 

caught the attention of R & M Wilson, 

who will be taking him home to Dalry, 

Ayrshire. 

New Entries onto the Semen Royalty Scheme (prices include VAT) 

Battleford Panama MBM0082388 £36.00 

Bostonia Ringo ET MBMI0001076 £36.00 

Glenericht Mecca MBM0071517 £48.00 

Staniff Nooky MBM0072952 £48.00 

Kersknowe Obe MBM0076533 £48.00 

Melvin Piper MBM0080984 £36.00 

Silver Oakman MBM0076214 £600.00 

Whitecliffe Pearce MBM0082446 £36.00 

Whitecliffe Picador MBM0080565 £36.00 

Whitecliffe Priceless MBM0081275 £36.00 



Carlisle May 

Pouncer 

swoops 

top price at 

Carlisle 

At long last it was time to dust off the 

rosettes as the traditional pre-sale 

show could once again take place at 

the annual Spring sale at Borderway 

Mart, Carlisle. The show, judged by 

Mr Alistair Smith of Northampton, 

took place on Friday May 14, and 

highlighted the stunning animals on 

offer. 

Proceedings began in earnest on 

Saturday May 15, attracting a flurry of 

bids across all stock. A total of 49 bulls 

sold, with an average price of £7142.14 

and a phenomenal 87.5% clearance. 

In addition, a further 14 heifers went 

under the hammer for an average price 

of £3570. 

The top price of the day, at a 

whopping 20,000gns, was secured 

by Reserve Supreme Champion & 

Reserve Intermediate Champion 

GRETNAHOUSE POUNCER. Pouncer 

is from the herd of the well-respected 

Mr A G Houston of Kirkpatrick-Fleming, 

Dumfriesshire, and was sired by the 

easy-calving Westcarse Jimmy. Pouncer 

has also inherited his sire’s excellent 

growth EBVs, placing him in the top 

1% for 200-, 400-, and 600-day weight 

values. Pouncer’s dam, Gretnahouse 

Japan, is a daughter of the 17,000gns 

Balthayock Gladiator. The great 

potential of this 18-month-old was 

noticed by winning bidder Mr H Heron, 

who will be taking Pouncer back to 

Newtonards, Co. Down. 

Gretnahouse Pouncer top price at 20,000gns 

Minutes later, the hammer came 

down at 16,000gns for another bull 

from Mr Houston’s herd – this time 

for the 18-month-old GRETNAHOUSE 

PIMP. Pimp is another cracking young 

bull sired by Westcarse Jimmy, and 

once again Jimmy’s influence is clear 

in Pimp’s impressive growth and 

calving ease EBVs. Pimp was born to 

Gretnahouse Jannabel, a daughter of 

the notoriously easy-calving Blelack 

Digger, which undoubtedly only adds 

to his appeal. The young lad caught 

the eye of both Mr J Wardlaw and Son, 

Balerno, Midlothian and David Dandie 

Broxburn, Westlothian who will share 

the bull.The third-highest price of the 

day went to ANNANVIEW PRINCE, 

reaching a final bid of 15,000gns. 

Prince was bred by K Watret of 

Annan, Dumfriesshire, and is out of 

Gretnahouse Megan, an easy-calving 

daughter of the 12,000gns Wesley 

Equinox. Prince’s sire, Harestone 

Hercules, offers superb growth EBVs, 

only adding to the promise this young 

bull holds. P & C Tippetts were the 

winning bidders, and will be taking 

Prince home to Shifnal, Shropshire. 

First-in-class CAYLERS ROCKY achieved 

the next highest price of 14,000gns. 

Rocky, along with several other bulls 

from the Caylers Charolais herd, 

made the long trip all the way from 

Nuthampstead, Hertfordshire to 

be sold at Carlisle. He was born in 

January 2020 to Caylers Glamour, 

a daughter of Thrunton Dominator, 

and sired by the 2020 Great Charolais 

Summer Show Supreme Champion 

Rosanna Jupiter. Rocky will be making 

the considerably shorter journey to 

Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire, where he will 

be integrated into the herd of Mr H 

Goldie. 

Gretnahouse Pimp at 16,000gns 

Annanview Prince at 15,000gns 

Caylers Rocky at 14,000gns 


22 


Balmyle President at 13,000gns 

Ravensworth Prometheus at 

13,000gns 

Mornity Rugby at 13,000gns 

Retties Rogue at 12,000gns 

Caylers Rambo at 12,000gns 

Elgin Pandy at 10,000gns 

Three bulls managed to reach a top 

price of 13,000gns – the first of which 

was BALMYLE PRESIDENT, bred by 

W P Bruce of Meigle, Perthshire. This 

18-month-old is out of Balmyle Lucky, a 

daughter of Maerdy Egret, and sired by 

2015 Carlisle Reserve Junior Champion 

Balmyle Jasper. President will be 

heading back to Berwick-Upon-Tweed, 

Northumberland, courtesy of winning 

bidder Armstrong Farming Ltd. 

Next to reach 13,000gns was 

17-month-old RAVENSWORTH 

PROMETHEUS, from the herd of Mr 

W S Oates in Gateshead, Tyne and 

Wear. Prometheus was sired by the 

highly sought-after Dingle Hofmeister, 

and his dam is Ravensworth Juniper, 

a daughter of Thrunton Florida. This 

charming young bull was snapped up 

by J C Hobday & Son, who will be taking 

him back to Hawick, Roxburghshire. 

The final bull to secure a bid of 

13,000gns was MORNITY RUGBY, a 

14-month-old from the herd of Jack 

Nicoll Farms in Blairgowrie, Perthshire. 

Rugby is a heifer’s calf, being born 

to Mornity Nikita, a daughter of the 

award-winning Maerdy Hwre. He 

was sired by the popular easy-calver 

Westcarse Houdini, who fetched a price 

of 14,000gns at Carlisle in 2013. Rugby 

boasts notable growth EBVs, and is 

sure to produce valuable calves for his 

new owner, M A J Jarrold of Cosheston, 

Pembrokeshire. 

The hammer came down at the next 

highest price of 12,000gns for two 

bulls, the first being 16-month-old 

RETTIES ROGUE. Rogue comes from 

the herd of R & C Rettie of Perth, 

Perthshire, and is another bull sired 

by the 14,000gns Westcarse Houdini. 

His dam is Retties Nena, who was sired 

by the ever-popular Blelack Digger. 

Offering a calving ease EBV of +7.7, 

Rogue has plenty of potential to pass 

on to his future progeny. Shennanton 

Livestock were the winning bidders 

for this stylish bull, and he will soon 

be settling into their herd in Newton 

Stewart, Wigtownshire. 

Next to secure a bid of 12,000gns 

was another offering from Caylers 

Charolais: CAYLERS RAMBO. This 

easy-calving 14-month-old was also 

sired by the award-winning Rosanna 

Jupiter, and was born to Caylers Heidi, 

a daughter of the 10,000gns Thrunton 

Alpha. Rambo offers consistently 

above-average growth EBVs in addition 

to his superb calving ease of +11.7, and 

is sure to settle in well at his new home 

in Blackmill, Bridgend with new owner 

Williams Partners. 

Another two bulls sold for the next 

highest price of 10,000gns, the first 

of which was ELGIN PANDY. Pandy 

was bred by Mr R A Milne of Elgin, 

Morayshire, and was sired by the 

easy-calving Carwood Lochness. His 

dam is Elgin Mary, who is a daughter 

of popular sire Westcarse Houdini. 

This attractive November-born bull 

caught the eye of winning bidders A & 

E Shand, and he will be heading back to 

their herd in Ellon, Aberdeenshire. 

The final bull to reach a five-figure 

bid was Reserve Junior Champion 

MORNITY ROMEO, another from 

the herd of Jack Nicoll Farms. A halfbrother 

to the 13,000gns Mornity 

Rugby, Romeo was also sired by 

Westcarse Houdini. His dam is Mornity 

Matilda, a daughter of Baggrave 

Lysander. Like his brother, Romeo will 

also be heading back to Wales, this 

time to the herd of D J & M D Prosser & 

Jones in Brecon, Powys. 

The next highest price of 8,000gns 

was secured by first-in-class ELGIN 

PROSPECT, another bull from Mr R 

A Milne’s herd. This 17-month-old is 

out of Elgin Mabel – another daughter 

of Westcarse Houdini – and sired by 

the easy-calving Caylers Noah. The 

excellent calving ease and growth 

EBVs from his lineage are evident in 

Prospect, and he is sure to settle in 

nicely to his new home in Lockerbie, 

Dumfriesshire, under the care of A J 



Macgregor. 

Four bulls went under the hammer for 

a final price of 7,000gns, two of which 

were half-brothers from the herd of I 

& D Goldie of Annan, Dumfriesshire. 

The first of this pair to sell was 

SOLWAYFIRTH PRESLEY, a strapping 

19-month-old sired by Glenericht 

Majestic and out of Solwayfirth Misty, 

a daughter of Solwayfirth Javelin. 

Majestic is known for producing wellperforming 

progeny, having bred 

sons to 14,000gns in the past. Presley 

caught the eye of J Wight & Sons, and 

will be making the journey back to 

Biggar, Lanarkshire. 

Just moments later, the hammer 

came down again at 7,000gns for 

Presley’s half-brother, SOLWAYFIRTH 

PIONEER. From the same herd, and 

also sired by the 11,500gns Glenericht 

Majestic, this October-born bull is 

instead out of Solwayfirth Donna, 

a daughter of Maerdy Restful. The 

winning bid this time came from J & I H 

McFadzean, who will be taking Pioneer 

back with them to Newton Stewart, 

Wigtownshire. 

Next to reach a bid of 7,000gns was 

the weekend’s Supreme Champion & 

Intermediate Champion, FORMAKIN 

PRESTIGE. This charming 18-month-old 

was bred by the McMurrich Partnership 

of Causewayhead, Stirlingshire, and 

was sired by the popular French AI bull 

Jingle. Prestige was born to a daughter 

of Blelack Digger, Formakin Ladybird, 

and continues Digger’s legacy of good 

calving ease EBVs. The winning bid 

came from W Kingaby, and Prestige will 

soon be settling into his new home in 

Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire. 

The final bull to reach 7,000gns 

was Junior Champion CAYLERS RIO, 

another from popular breeders Caylers 

Mornity Romeo at 10,000gns 

Charolais. At only 13 months old, Rio 

was the youngest bull forward for sale, 

however his stylish presentation still 

managed to catch the eye of judge 

Alistair Smith and bidders alike. Rio was 

sired by the well-growing Elgin Nailer, 

and is out of Caylers Holly, a daughter 

of Thrunton Dominator. Taking this 

young Champion home are C & E 

McCombie of Huntly, Aberdeen. 

There was also a good demand for 

Charolais females over the course of 

the day, with prices reaching a high of 

6,000gns. Two draft sales took place, 

including a draft of 7 heifers from the 

Harestone herd, and a draft of 5 heifers 

from the Bassett herd. 

The highest-priced non-draft female 

was first-in-class BASSETT POLLY at 

4,000gns. Polly was bred by Miss J 

Atkinson and sold by Brailes Livestock 

of Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire. 

Polly was sired by Whitecliffe Lacroix, 

a son of the 31,000gns Whitecliffe 

Highlight, and her dam is Bassett 

Margaret, a daughter of Bassett 

Inspector. At the time of the sale, 

Polly had recently been AI’d to the 

highly sought-after Wesley Equinox. 

The winning bid went to I N & A N 

Hollinshead, who will be taking Polly 

home to Goostrey, Cheshire. 

Formakin Prestige at 7,000gns 

The larger of the two draft sales 

included heifers from the Harestone 

herd of R & N Barclay in Insch, 

Aberdeenshire. The highest-priced 

heifer in this draft was HARESTONE 

PASADENA, at 6,000gns. Pasadena 

comes from a noteworthy lineage, 

being sired by the 46,000gns 2018 

Supreme Champion Balthayock 

Minstrel, and out of Harestone Lively – 

a daughter of the 11,000gns Allanfauld 

Gambler. At the time of the sale, 

Pasadena was scanned and found to 

be 8 weeks in calf to Harestone Oscar. 

Pasadena will be making the long 

journey all the way to Truro, Cornwall, 

where she will be introduced to the 

herd of J Gregory. 

The other draft sale of the day was 

from the Bassett herd of Miss J 

Atkinson in Malton, North Yorkshire. 

Five heifers were offered in this draft, 

reaching a top price of 2,500gns for 

22-month-old BASSETT PIPPIN. Pippin, 

like all of the Bassett heifers forward 

during the day, was sired by Whitecliffe 

Lacroix. Her dam is Bassett Edna, a 

daughter of Oldstone Egbert who has 

long been a very popular AI bull. Pippin 

will be making her way to the herd of R 

J Stott in Carlisle, Cumbria. 

Caylers Rio at 7,000gns 

Bassett Polly at 4,000gns 

Harestone Pasadena at 6,000gns 


24 


Swatragh May 

Peter gets 

the prestige 

of topping at 

the market 

The evening of Friday May 21 marked 

the end of the Spring sale season, 

culminating in a high-quality offering 

of bulls at Swatragh Livestock Market. 

A total of 14 bulls sold for an average 

price of £3540, resulting in a fantastic 

93% clearance. 

Topping the lots at 5,500gns was 

PRESTIGE PETER. This 17-monthold 

was sold by A Armstrong from 

Dromore, Co. Tyrone. Peter was sired 

by Cavelands Fenian, and born to 

Bostonia Lizzie, a daughter of the 

16,000gns Balmyle Vagabond. This 

strapping young bull caught the eye 

of D McMullan, and he’ll be heading 

back to their herd in Maghera, Co. 

Londonderry. 

A trio of home-bred bulls, also from 

the herd of A Armstrong, secured the 

next three highest bids. First to sell, for 

5,300gns, was 22-month-old TANHILL 

PORKER, a son of the popular easycalver 

Whitecliffe James. Porker’s dam 

is Thrunton Marion, a daughter of the 

22,000gns Newhouse Bigal. With such 

an impressive lineage, Porker is sure 

to make new owner S Taylor incredibly 

happy once he’s settled into their herd 

in Ligoneil, Belfast. 

Next from A Armstrong’s herd were 

two half-brothers sired by Woodpark 

Elgin, who boasts excellent growth 

EBVs and secured a price of 11,000gns 

at Stirling in 2011. Reaching 

the next highest price of 

the evening, at 4,200gns, 

was TANHILL PACMAN. 

Pacman’s dam is Maerdy 

Joanofark, a daughter of 

Maerdy Dynamite. This 

charming 17-month-old will 

be making his way back to 

Larne, Co. Antrim with new 

owner K Topping. 

The final Woodpark Elgin 

son from A Armstrong’s 

herd was TANHILL 

PEARLJAM, who achieved 

a price of 3,900gns. This 

17-month-old was born to 

Maerdy Llewes, a daughter 

of the 20,000gns Maerdy 

Grenadier. Pearljam will be making 

the journey back to A Millar’s herd in 

Tobernaveen, Co. Antrim 

Securing the next highest price 

of 3,800gns was MOORLOUGH 

PEDRO, from the herd of J McBride 

in Strabane, Co. Tyrone. Pedro was 

sired by the tremendously easycalving 

Balthayock Champion, and is 

out of Moorlough Lara, a daughter 

of the 18,000gns Thrunton Fairfax. 

With such noteworthy parentage, 

it’s easy to see why Pedro caught the 

attention of winning bidder H Nugent 

of Toomebridge, Co. Antrim. 

Next was 18-month-old BIRCHES 

POGBA who sold for the next highest 

price of 3,200gns. Pogba was bred my 

Mr & Mrs N Matchett of Portadown, 

Co. Armagh, and was sired by Laheens 

Master. His dam is Doon June, a 

daughter of the 16,000gns Anside 

Foreman. Winning the bid this time 

was W Gourley, who will be taking 

Pogba back to their herd in Cookstown, 

Co. Tyrone. 

Prestige Peter at 5,500gns 

The final bull to surpass the 3,000gns 

threshold was WOODPARK REGAN, 

who sold for 3,100gns. At only 13 

months old, Regan was one of the 

youngest bulls forward for sale over 

the course of the evening. Regan 

comes from the herd of W Short in 

Omagh, Co. Tyrone, and was sired by 

the easy-calving Liscally Nijinsky. His 

dam is Woodpark Malteser, a daughter 

of Deeside Gulliver. This attractive 

young bull caught the eye of PJ Quinn, 

and will soon be making his way back 

to their herd in Coagh, Co. Tyrone. 

Tanhill Porker at 5,300gns 

Tanhill Pacman at 4,200gns 

Moorlough Pedro at 3,800gns 

Birches Pogba at 3,200gns 



The Harman Awards 2021 

The presentations for the 2021 Harman Awards took place in 

February at the Stirling Bull Sales. 

The awards recognise the herds that have shown the highest 

genetic gain in each region over the past 12 months, by 

measuring the percentage of age improvement in SRI using the 

Breedplan recording system. 

Society Chairman and awards founder Ben Harman said: “The 

pressures on the beef industry over our carbon footprint are 

only going to intensify over the coming years. Supermarkets 

have announced their intention to become carbon natural by 

2035, Morrison’s is aiming at 2030. 

“The only way we can enhance and improve our footprint is by 

measuring the performance of our cattle and make breeding 

decisions based on which animals out-perform others. 

“I’m delighted to be associated with these awards which 

recognise the most progressive herds in the UK, all striving to 

improve the productivity of their cattle and therefore those of 

their customers.” 

The highest improvement of the year was shown by the 

Welsh winners Vince and Melita Corbett with their Teme 

herd. Based in Knighton, Powys the family have a herd of 20 

pedigree Charolais and showed an impressive improvement of 

11.8 points in SRI in the last 12 months, with their year ending 

with an average of 47.3. 

Vince and Melita, and their son Thomas, run the family farm 

with their daughters, Eva, Ruth and Grace coming home to 

help when they can as they all have professional jobs: Eva is a 

vet, Ruth is a physiotherapist and Grace is a solicitor. 

They purchased the farm in December 1995 and have built it 

up to an impressive 400 acres. They have 20 head of pedigree 

Charolais cows and do some ET work. All calves born on the 

farm are performance recorded. 

Purchasing their first pedigree Charolais female in 2009 they 

joined the society later that year. 

Vince and Melita said “This year’s improvement in 

performance we feel is partly due to our permanent 

progression in always trying to better our herd. We also keep 

an eye on figures when choosing a bull to use on our cows and 

heifers.” 

They continued: “In the past we’ve concentrated on easy 

calving AI bulls. We purchased our first pedigree Charolais 

bull, Dooley Orlando, at the Welshpool sale in November 2019 

for his easy calving lines, and he’s proved very successful. The 

following May we purchased Gretnahouse Oleander privately 

for his outstanding pedigree and figures.” 

The Corbett’s made the decision to start performance 

recording, mainly as a marketing tool but also to improve the 

herd performance mainly focussing on the cows as they are 

still building their herd. After only really concentrating on the 

calving ease figures they realised that they should be looking 

at the figures as a whole to give them a better picture of which 

animals they should be using. 

Vince and Melita said “As the national suckler herd decreases 

we believe that pedigree breeders need to supply the suckler 

herds with more and more information including performance 

recording and myostatin results to ensure their future 

profitability. At the same time they need to maintain the 

Charolais superior growth rates. This is an ongoing challenge 

in the future we all need to face.” 

The Scottish regional winners, with an improvement of 11.7 

points, taking the herd’s average year end value to 46.7 are Mr 

and Mrs Miller and their Lochend herd from Port of Menteith, 

Stirlingshire. 

Mr and Mrs Miller entered into farming 35 years ago and 

purchased their first Charolais bull in 1991. They decided to 

join the society in 1993, and started performance recording 

straight away to help them identify genetics to improve 

performance, particularly calving ease. To this day they 

use performance recording to monitor genetic potential 

and to identify genetic traits in new herd sires to improve 

performance in any progeny. 

When Rhona isn’t working at their local primary school, she 

and her husband Iain can be found on their 271-acre farm 

tending to their 25 cows and followers. 

Melitta Corbet receiving her prizes from 

pictured with Ben Harman 

Iain Millar receiving his prizes from Ben Harman 


26 


Putting this years’ increase down to changing the herd sire, Mr 

and Mrs Miller said: “when selecting a new sire for the herd 

we’re looking for one that will improve traits lacking in the 

genetics of our breeding females within the herd to try and 

rebalance any genetic weakness’s within the herd. We look 

at the whole picture, all the figures that are there, but mainly 

focus on calving ease and scrotal circumference and try to 

avoid and individual extreme negative figures such as extreme 

heavy birthweight, poor growth or scanning.” 

Mr and Mrs Miller believe that by performance recording and 

using the statistics that come from it they can make informed 

decisions when selecting new sires. This was the case with 

Mortimers Echo, with some of his sons selling for more than 

10,000gns including Lochend Hickory who sold in 2014 for 

22,000gns. 

Their broad genetic base and selective use of AI gives them 

a real opportunity to produce progeny of exceptional quality 

and longevity. Calving ease is very important to the Rix’s when 

considering EBVs as is the Terminal Index score. 

Having been members of the Charolais Society since the foundation 

of the herd they’ve performance recorded since the 

start: “we feel this is the best way to demonstrate the quality 

of the cattle in a scientific format.” 

“Our cattle are halter trained to be quiet, docile and easy to 

handle. The herd is spring and autumn calving, winter-housed 

The English regional winners are John and Jenny Rix with an 

improvement of 8.1 points giving a year end average of 44.9. 

John and Jenny Rix founded Wissington Charolais in 2005 on 

an arable farm in the Stour Valley on the Essex/Suffolk border, 

under the management of Darren Knox. Their herd consists of 

65 breeding females. A commercial suckler herd of South Devon’s 

run alongside to demonstrate the terminal sire qualities of 

the Charolais bulls. 

Trevor Phair pictured with his award along side his cattle 

and fed on straw, silage and home-produced cereals with only 

protein being bought in.” 

The final winner, from the Northern Ireland region, is Trevor 

Phair of Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh. His improvement points 

are up by 8.0 bringing his year-end average to 48.2. 

Trevor is a third-generation farmer, running the Brogher herd 

of Charolais on his 190-acre family farm with a herd of 20 Charolais 

cows along with a suckler cow and sheep enterprise. 

Darren Knox and Jenny Rix with their cattle 

Jenny says: “herd health is a particularly important part of 

running the Charolais. We’re BVD accredited free and Johnes 

Level 1. We also test annually for IBR and Lepto. We’re in a 

48-month TB testing area and only last month did our fouryear 

testing without any positive results.” 

John went on to say: “using a selective draft of females from 

the Darshams, Seawell, Barksore, Rumsden and Moyness 

herds, and bulls from Thrunton, Blelack and Goldies formed 

our original nucleus. We’re currently using a home-bred bull, 

Wissington Observer, plus Elgin Oliver and Maerdy Northern 

Boy to naturally cover the females, but we do also use AI.” 

Trevor says: “we use AI on all the Charolais herd and select 

bulls that are easy calving with a high 200- and 400-day growth 

and eye muscle combined with easy fleshing. Performance 

recording all our calves, we can identify the top performers in 

each batch that are easy calved and grow fast with the ability 

to lay down muscle or fat cover from an early age.” 

Joining the society in 1985, Trevor has always performance 

recorded using it as a tool to identify the top bulls and females 

produced in the herd. Also, he’s able to provide specific performance 

information to customers looking for bulls to produce 

commercial calves. 

Mr Phair added: “he puts these improvements down to the 

stock bull we used with AI and progeny performance. When 

looking at EBV’s we pay particular attention to the calving 

ease, 200- and 400-day growth rate and the eye muscle percentage. 

We breed selected females each year with maternal 

bulls for replacements.” 

The year letter for 2021 is S, 2022 will be T 



NOSTALGIA Can you remember what happened 25 years ago? 

See page 57 for the answers 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 


28 


The Scottish Showcase 

Shows such as the Royal Highland have long been staple 

events for many, and their absence has been sorely missed 

over the last year. The Scottish Showcase sought to remedy 

this, by bringing traditional-style shows to an online-only 

audience, with only competitors attending in-person. Several 

spectacular Charolais animals were shown over the course of 

Tuesday 15th June 2021, with entries across four classes. 

The day’s Overall Charolais Champion was none other than 

5-year-old MAERDY MORWR, who also went on to win the 

title of Overall Continental Beef Interbreed Pair Champion. 

This phenomenal bull was exhibited by AJR Farms of Ellon, 

Aberdeenshire, who had purchased the bull from breeder Mr 

D E Evans in 2018. Morwr was sired by the popular Maerdy 

Dynamite, and his dam is Maerdy Fee, a daughter of the 

French-born Victorieux. 

Standing reserve to the Charolais Champion was Best Female 

TOPHILL ROXANNE. Roxanne was a recent acquisition for 

exhibitor Mr T Atkinson of Cumbria, who purchased her from 

breeder Mr A J Stott in February 2021. This stunning young 

heifer was born to Hackleton Hetty, a daughter of Mulroog 

Alpine, and was sired by Hackleton Largerlout. 

The Charolais champion Maerdy Morwr 

The final title to be won by Charolais animals was the 

Continental Beef Interbreed Pair Championship. First place in 

this competition went to the pair of HARESTONE MAMMAMIA 

and the aforementioned MAERDY MORWR. Mammamia was 

bred and exhibited by R & N Barclay of Insch, Aberdeenshire, 

and was 1st in her class in the preceding judging. She was 

sired by Maerdy Dublin, and her dam is Harestone Brigitte, a 

daughter of Harestone Ronsard. 

All results: 

Class 236 – Junior Female, born on or after 20 June 2019 

1st – T Atkinson – Tophill Roxanne – s. Hackleton Largerlout 

2nd – A B Hornall – Falleninch Renae – s. Barnsford Ferny 

3rd – T Atkinson – Arradfoot Penny – s. Arradfoot Nixon 

4th – Brailes Livestock – Bassett Ruby – s. Whitecliffe Lacroix 

5th – A B Hornall – Falleninch Renoa – s. Falleninch Imperator 

6th – Brailes Livestock – Bassett Rachael – s. Whitecliffe Lacroix 

The reserve Charolais champion was best female 

Tophill Roxanne 

Class 237 – Senior Female, born on or before 19 June 2019 

1st – R & N Barclay – Harestone Mammamia – s. Maerdy 

Dublin 

2nd – R Aitken – Lourie Panache – s. Tweeddale Lookout 

3rd – R & N Barclay – Harestone Odena – s. Harestone Jaquard 

Class 238 – Junior Bull, born on or after 20 June 2019 

1st – A B Hornall – Falleninch Paulo – s. Barnsford Ferny 

2nd – R & C Rettie – Retties Roughdiamond – s. Balmyle Jasper 

3rd – Brailes Livestock – Bassett Richard – s. Whitecliffe Lacroix 

Class 239 – Senior Bull, born on or before 19 June 2019 

1st – AJR Farms – Maerdy Morwr – s. Maerdy Dynamite 

Champion & Best Male 

AJR Farms – Maerdy Morwr – s. Maerdy Dynamite 

Reserve Overall Champion & Best Female 

T Atkinson – Tophill Roxanne – s. Hackleton Largerlout 

Continental Beef Interbreed Champion 


Continental Beef Interbreed Pair Champions 


R & N Barclay – Harestone Mammamia – s. Maerdy Dublin 



The National Charolais Show at the Great Yorkshire 

Morwr Sails to the Top at the Great Yorkshire Show 

At long last, it was finally time for the much-anticipated Great 

Yorkshire Show to return over the course of Tuesday 13 to 

Friday 16 July 2021. With COVID-19 restrictions still in place, 

the event had to resort to limited capacity, however this did 

not affect the quality of animals on display. Charolais animals 

had a tremendous showing in the pedigree beef classes across 

the Thursday and Friday, including some returning favourites 

from the Scottish Showcase in June. 

Blythewood Continental Beef Pairs Championship, and was 

bred and exhibited by R & N Barclay of Insch, Aberdeenshire. 

She born to Harestone Brigitte, a daughter of Harestone 

Ronsard, and sired by Maerdy Dublin. 

Stunning young heifer TOPHILL ROXANNE also had another 

successful showing, earning the title of Overall British 

Charolais Junior Champion. She was purchased from breeder 

A J Stott only a few months ago and is already proving to be 

a valuable asset for exhibitor T Atkinson of Cumbria. Roxanne 

was sired by Hackleton Largerlout, and her dam is Hackleton 

Hetty, a daughter of Mulroog Alpine. 

Standing in reserve for the title of British Charolais Male 

Maerdy Morwr 

MAERDY MORWR once again stole the show after his 

success in the Scottish Showcase, this time claiming the titles 

of British Charolais Breed Supreme Champion, Supreme 

Champion Interbreed Beef Animal, and forming one half of 

the Blythewood Continental Beef Pairs Championship. This 

Maerdy Dynamite-sired bull was once again exhibited by AJR 

Farms of Ellon, Aberdeenshire, who had purchased him from 

breeder D E Evans in 2018. 

In reserve to Morwr in the British Charolais Breed Supreme 

Championship was another returning animal in HARESTONE 

Tophill Roxanne 

Champion was Junior Male Champion, WESTCARSE ROBBIE. 

This charming 15-month-old was exhibited by S Mitchell of 

Penrith, Cumbria, who had purchased him from breeder J H 

Christie in October 2020. Robbie is out of Westcarse Naomi, 

a daughter of Mortimers Highlandfling, and was sired by 

Nuthampstead Judas. 

Harestone Mammamia 

MAMMAMIA. Mammamia was also the other half of the 

Westcarse Robbie 


30 


All results: 

Class 69 – Senior Bull, born before 1st January 2020 

1st – AJR Farms – Maerdy Morwr – s. Maerdy Dynamite 

Class 70 – Junior Bull, born on or after 1st January 2020 

1st – S Mitchell – Westcarse Robbie – s. Nuthampstead Judas 

2nd – G W Turner – Brampton Rocco – s. Anside Nightrider 

3rd – Brailes Livestock – Bassett Richard – s. Whitecliffe Lacroix 

4th – R & C Rettie – Retties Roughdiamond – s. Balmyle Jasper 

Class 71 – Junior Female, born in 2020 

1st – T Atkinson – Tophill Roxanne – s. Hackleton Largerlout 

2nd – Brailes Livestock – Bassett Ruby – s. Whitecliffe Lacroix 

3rd – Brailes Livestock – Bassett Rachael – s. Whitecliffe Lacroix 

Class 72 – Intermediate Female, born in 2019 

1st – R Aitken – Lourie Panache – s. Tweeddale Lookout 

2nd – T Atkinson – Arradfoot Penny – s. Arradfoot Nixon 

Class 73 – Senior Female, born on or before 31st December 

2018 

1st – R & N Barclay – Harestone Mammamia – s. Maerdy 

Dublin 

2nd – J Rix – Wissington Oregano – s. Maerdy Heracles 

3rd – R & N Barclay – Harestone Odena – s. Harestone 

Jacquard 

4th – J E Foster – Crookdake Nancy – s. Hallbankgate Jackpot 

5th – Brailes Livestock – Bassett Nutmeg – s. Bassett Inspector 

Class 74 – Group of Three Animals 

1st – Brailes Livestock – Basset Richard, Basset Ruby, and 

Basset Rachael – s. Whitecliffe Lacroix 

Class 75 – Pair of Animals 

1st – T Atkinson – Tophill Roxanne and Arradfoot Penny – s. 

Hackleton Largerlout and Arradfoot Nixon, respectively 

CH37 – British Charolais Junior Champion 

Champion: T Atkinson – Tophill Roxanne – s. Hackleton 

Largerlout 

Reserve: T Atkinson – Arradfoot Penny – s. Arradfoot Nixon 

CH38 – British Charolais Junior Male Champion 

Champion: S Mitchell – Westcarse Robbie – s. Nuthampstead 

Judas 

Reserve: G W Turner – Brampton Rocco – s. Anside Nightrider 

CH39 – British Charolais Junior Female Champion 

Champion: T Atkinson – Tophill Roxanne – s. Hackleton 

Largerlout 

Reserve: T Atkinson – Arradfoot Penny – s. Arradfoot Nixon 

CH40 – British Charolais Male Champion 

Champion: AJR Farms – Maerdy Morwr – s. Maerdy Dynamite 

Reserve: S Mitchell – Westcarse Robbie – s. Nuthampstead 

Judas 

CH41 – British Charolais Female Champion 

Champion: R & N Barclay – Harestone Mammamia – s. Maerdy 

Dublin 

Reserve: R Aitken – Lourie Panache – s. Tweeddale Lookout 

CH42 – British Charolais Breed Champion 


Reserve: R & N Barclay – Harestone Mammamia – s. Maerdy 

Dublin 

CH63 – Supreme Champion Beef Animal 


Class 114 – Blythewood Continental Beef Pairs Champion 

Champions: AJR Farms – Maerdy Morwr – s. Maerdy 

Dynamite 

R & N Barclay – Harestone Mammamia – s. Maerdy Dublin 



Christmas Jumper Selfie Competition 

with your Charolais cattle 

The next selfie competition closes on 2 January 2022. 

Please email us your pictures of yourselves in your christmas jumpers with your 

Charolais cattle! 

All entries will be shown in the January Journal 2022. 

The winner will be contacted prior to publication of the Journal. 

One entry per person 

All entries to be emailed to: fiona@charolais.co.uk 

(please add your name in the email for the Charolais Journal and social media, 

by emailing us you are giving us permission to publish your picture and name) 

1st Prize - Charolais softshell jacket or bodywarmer 

2nd Prize - Charolais beanie hat and a thermal mug 

Charolais White Gold Female Sale - Friday 19 November 

HYBRID LIVE AND ONLINE 

Entries will close Friday 8th October 2021 

This unique sale will take place on Friday 19 November and will be the first time this method of 

sale the Charolais Cattle Society have held for their members. 

Plan to hold the White Gold ‘Hybrid’ sale of Charolais females in Borderway, Carlisle on 

Friday 19th November 

Entries limited to a maximum of 5 per consignor 

Elite females only (10 Months of age or above) 

Entries to be sold ‘virtually’ to avoid export issues, and mainland UK entries to be sold live 

Combining ‘live’ entries with ‘virtual’ entries 

Catalogued in the usual manner and sold in age order 

Large TV screen situated next to the display board in ring showing video footage of the virtual entries 

Live on-line bidding operating 

Online viewing catalogue will include up to 4 images and a video of each sale entry (to be supplied by consignor). 

Links to further information and entry forms can be found on our website: www.charolais.co.uk 


32 


IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL 

VENDORS AT SOCIETY SALES 

Prior to entering all animals for a 

Society Sale they MUST 

a) have a dna sample processing at the laboratory at 

the time of entering an animal into a sale. 

or 

b) have their dna testing already fully completed. 

Animals WILL NOT be Accepted into any society sale 

unless their DNA 

sample is either in process or 

has been completed. 

Having a pending sample stored in the office will not 

count unless you have asked for it to be processed prior 

to making your entry into the sale and this must be 

before the closing date. 



DNA - Private transfer / Instructions for taking hair samples 

All animals sold privately to pedigree herds must be SNP tested, at least sire verified, and tested for the myostatin genes F94L and 

Q204X before they are transferred. This will be at the vendors cost unless, at the discretion of the society, the animal has been purchased 

from a non member, a membership which has ceased or prior to this rule being implemented on 01/03/2020, in which case 

the cost will default to the purchaser. 

DNA - Society Sales 

All animals entered into a Society sale must be at least sire verified. 

All animals’ samples must be either already being processed by the lab or have their DNA profile already completed at the time that 

they are entered into a Society sale. 

Furthermore, if the DNA profile, parentage verification and myostatin tests are not complete prior to the sale catalogue going to 

print (usually approximately three weeks before the sale) then the animal will not be permitted to attend the sale. 

Having a pending sample stored at the Society office, will not count as the sample being processed at the lab, therefore it is the 

responsibility of the member to check that the animal’s sample has been sent to the lab prior to entering the animal into a Society 

sale. 

All animals will have its parentage verification status displayed in the sale catalogue as either PV, SV or DV. In addition the parentage 

verification status will also be displayed on pen cards. This will be displayed in one of the following: 

PV SV DV 

Fully parentage verified Sire verified Dam verified 

Purchased bulls 

httpThe testing guide can be 

found online at 

www.charolais.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/DNAtesting-guide-v2.pdf 

To further improve the integrity of the herd book, if you purchase a bull, either privately or through a Society sale, from 01/06/2021, 

in order for him to be transferred into your ownership he must be fully parentage verified wherever possible. If he has only been sire 

verified the society will cover the cost of DNA testing his dam and then verifying his pedigree. 

Instructions for taking hair samples 

Pull at least 60 hairs from the tail switch – we no longer accept samples of coat hair. 

DO NOT CUT the hair - if the sample is missing the follicle (root), it will not contain 

DNA. If you don’t have enough hairs, there will not be enough DNA for genotyping. 

Gather at least 60 hairs, and grasp them tightly as close to the skin as possible with hands orpliers. As an animal gets older, the hair 

roots become harder to remove, so the use of pliers often aids removal. 

Pull the hair slowly and firmly away from the tail, 

making sure to get the roots. 

Do not collect shed hair for sampling, as the 

follicles will carry degraded DNA. 

Ensure the hair is completely dry, and as clean as 

possible, otherwise the DNA will 

degrade before extraction. 

When more than one animal is sampled, take 

extreme care to avoid cross contamination 

of hair roots between animals. Only put the hair 

from one animal in each sample bag. 

Be sure there’s no substance on the sample, such 

as sprays, detergents or other cleaning agents. 

Only take hair samples from live animals. 


34 


SALE & 

HEALTH 

REMINDERS 

JOHNES - Selling on animals that 

have been purchased from 

another herd. 

HERD HEALTH 

DECLARATIONS 

Please ensure 

these are 

submitted to 

the office at 

the time of 

submitting 

your entries. 

WEIGHTS AND 

SCANNING. 

For sales held at Stirling in 

February and October, 

these sales are exclusive 

to Breeplan recorded 

bulls. As a minimum 

requirement they must 

have a birth weight, 200- 

and 400-day weights 

recorded, be ultra sound 

scanned and have a 

scrotal circumference 

measurement. Please 

contact the scanners 

direct to arrange a visit. 

The deadline for scanning 

information to be 

received will be published 

on the website/social 

media in advance of the 

close of entry. 

The following information has been taken from the CHeCS Technical Document when a 

non-homebred animal is being presented for sale: 

When an animal is purchased from a herd with an inferior Johne’s disease risk level 

than the herd to which it is added, the purchased animal retains the risk level of the 

herd of origin should it be sold on. For example, it cannot be sold as risk level 1 if 

purchased as risk level 2, 3, 4 or 5. 

Animals that are purchased from a herd with a superior risk level can be sold only at the 

risk level that applies to the purchaser’s herd at the time of subsequent sale. For 

example, an animal purchased as risk level 1 into a risk level 4 herd can only be sold at 

the risk level that applies to the level 4 receiving herd at the time of subsequent sale. 

DNA that is not 

currently in process 

when your entries are 

submitted will not be 

accepted and the 

animals will be rejected 

from the sale. Pending 

samples stored in the 

office do not count as 

being in process. 

Therefore, to avoid 

disappointment please 

check the DNA status of 

your animals before 

entering. 

SALE 

CATALOGUE 

Are an extremely useful 

tool in marketing 

animals that are forward 

for sale. The quicker the 

office can produce the 

catalogue, the quicker it 

can be printed and sent 

out to potential 

buyers/published on 

websites/social media 

etc. Let us help advertise 

your animals, by you 

helping us, and 

submitting your DNA 

well in advance of 

entering. 

REJECTED DNA SAMPLES – We have seen a large increase in the 

amount of DNA samples being rejected due to the quality of the samples submitted. 

WE CANNOT ACCEPT SAMPLES THAT ARE: 

• COAT HAIR 

• WET OR DIRTY 

• DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH HAIR FOLICLES 

PLEASE ENSURE THE SAMPLES ARE: 

• TAIL HAIR (APPROX. 40-60 HAIRS WITH VISABLE HAIR FOLICLES) 

• CLEAN & DRY 

Note: Wet DNA ear tag samples can be accepted. 



Checklist for Importing Animals, Embryos or Semen 

Importing Semen 

Before using semen from a Bull which is not already registered with the British Charolais Cattle Society (i.e. belongs to another 

Charolais society) you must remember to supply the following to the society: 

☐ 

A 

☐ 

At 

☐ 

The 

five-generation Zootechnical certificate, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/1012, 

for trade in semen of purebred breeding animals from the herd book of origin or alternatively 

the Society it was last transferred to (if it is on the third country register). E.g. tag number, prefix 

IE (Southern Ireland) FR (France) SWE (Sweden) 

If this does not cover 5 generations, then an additional document is required to cover the 

generations which are not covered. 

The Parents and Grandparents of the dams and all potential sires must be in the main register 

of the herd book of origin or alternatively the Society it was last transferred to (but only if it is 

on the third country register). This will be reviewed by the society on receipt of the Zootechnical 

Certificate. 

least a 50K SNP DNA profile which meets the Weatherbys testing requirements of a minimum 

of 554 ICAR markers or at least 200 ISAG markers. or alternatively a semen straw, wet tissue-tag 

sample, or tail hair sample from the bull. 

Bull must be at least Sire Verified, Myostatin tested for F94L and Q204X genes and be tested 

free of the Progressive Ataxia gene. 

Only use the semen once the animal is approved by the society. 

Importing Animals 

☐ 

A 

Zootechnical Export certificate for trade in purebred breeding animals of the bovine species 

from the herdbook of origin or alternatively the Society it was last transferred to (if it is on the 

third country register). E.g. tag number prefix IE (Southern Ireland) FR (France) SWE (Sweden) 

If this does not cover 5 generations for all potential sires and dams, then an additional document 

is required to cover the generations which are not covered. 

☐ 

At 

☐ 

The 

☐ 

If 

The Parents and Grandparents of the dams and all potential sires must be in the main register 

of the herd book of origin or alternatively the Society it was last transferred to (but only if it is 

on the third country register). This will be reviewed by the society on receipt of the Zootechnical 

Certificate. 

least a 50K SNP DNA profile which meets the Weatherbys testing requirements of a minimum 

of 554 ICAR markers or at least 200 ISAG markers or alternatively a semen straw (if applicable), 

wet tissue-tag sample or tail hair sample. 

animal must be at least Sire Verified, Myostatin tested for F94L and Q204X genes and be 

tested free of the Progressive Ataxia gene. 

the official export certificate does not show your name as the owner (e.g. France), you must 

include the intra-trade certificate showing the movement of the cattle from the previous owner 

to the new owner. 

The animal will not be fully imported until it has met all the requirements. 

Importing Embryos 

The British Charolais Society will require a new Zootechnical certificate for trade in embryos of purebred breeding animals for each 

new flush, regardless of whether the sire or dams are in the BCCS herd book. 


36 


☐ 

A 

Zootechnical certificate for trade in embryos of purebred breeding animals from the current 

breed society/competent authority/embryo collection or production team. 

If this does not cover 5 generations for all potential donor sires and donor dams, then an 

additional document is required to cover the generations which are not covered. 

☐ 

ET1 

☐ 

If 

☐ 

If 

☐ 

The 

☐ 

Include 

The Parents and Grandparents of the donor dams and all potential donor sires must be in the 

main register of the herd book of origin or alternatively the Society it was last transferred to (but 

only if it is on the third country register). This will be reviewed by the society on receipt of the 

Zootechnical Certificate. 

Flush form associated with the embryos. 

BCCS do not already have a 50K SNP profile for any of the donor sires. 

At least a 50K SNP DNA profile which meets the Weatherbys testing requirements of a minimum 

of 554 ICAR markers or at least 200 ISAG markers or alternatively a tail hair sample/semen 

sample/wet tissue-tag sample from the potential sires 

BCCS do not already have a 50K SNP profile for any of the donor dams. 


of 554 ICAR markers or at least 200 ISAG markers or alternatively a tail hair sample or wet tissuetag 

sample from the potential dams. 

parents of the embryos must be tested free of the Progressive Ataxia gene. Where this is 

not possible the progeny will be tested on birth and only be eligible for registration if tested free 

from the Progressive Ataxia gene. 

the intra-trade certificate showing the movement of the embryo from the previous 

owner to the new owner. 

Importing Recipient Dams 

The British Charolais Society will require a new a Zootechnical certificate for trade in embryos of purebred breeding animals for each 

new flush regardless of whether the sire or dams are in the BCCS herd book. If you are importing a Recipient Dam with an implanted 

embryo, please provide the following for the implanted embryo: 

☐ 

A Zootechnical certificate for trade in embryos of purebred breeding animals from the current 

breed society/competent authority/embryo collection or production team. 

If this does not cover 5 generations for all potential donor sires and donor dams, then an 

additional document is required to cover the generations which are not covered. 

☐ 

ET1 

☐ 

If 

☐ 

If 

☐ 

The 

☐ 

Include 

The Parents and Grandparents of the donor dams and all potential donor sires must be in the 

main register of the herd book of origin or alternatively the Society it was last transferred to (but 

only if it is on the third country register). This will be reviewed by the society on receipt of the 

Zootechnical Certificate. 

Flush form and/or ET2 amendment form associated with the embryos implanted into the 

recipient. (this must identify the recipient dam’s unique id e.g. tag number and breed) 

BCCS do not already have a 50K SNP profile for any of the donor sires. 


of 554 ICAR markers or at least 200 ISAG markers or alternatively a tail hair sample/semen 

sample/wet tissue-tag sample from the potential sires 

BCCS do not already have a 50K SNP profile for any of the donor dams. 


of 554 ICAR markers or at least 200 ISAG markers or alternatively a tail hair sample or wet tissuetag 

sample from the potential dams. 

parents of the embryos must be tested free of the Progressive Ataxia gene. Where this is 

not possible the progeny will be tested on birth and only be eligible for registration if tested free 

from the Progressive Ataxia gene. 

the intra-trade certificate showing the movement of the recipient dam from the previous 

owner to the new owner. 



Selfie Competition 

Thank you to everyone who entered the competition, the winner is Louise McArthur who received a Charolais jacket as her prize. 

Farming the biggest job 

on the earth 

Glesni Davies 

Start them young, 

George De Pass - the 

4th generation of the 

Tavy herd, Jess De Pass 

The Winner 

Suns out, tongues out Louise McArthur 

Perhaps the most northerly 

Charolais bull in the British 

Isles, Cockerington Nadal at 

home in Ollaberry, Shetland 

Are you sure this halter 

is long enough? 

G Kelly 

Bacardi Ninas calf 

showing off her cheesy 

grin 

Alexander Walker 

If Rudolf comes down with 

covid, I,m available for 

pulling your sleigh 

G Kelly 

James Harryman 

with Millbridge 

Newslandslady 

Struan Hamilton with 

the stockbull Jazzman 

My lockdown valentines 

with Brigadoon Romy 

David Connolly 

Northhouse McCoist 

and Emily Harryman 

Neve Hamilton with 

a new born Charolais 

cross calf 

Oh look another camera, 

I just love having my 

photo taken, I am beautiful 

Iona 

What choo looking at 

Louise Allan 

Smiling in the sunshine 

Kerry Smith 

Spence Wright with the 

stockbull Jazzman 

Anna Wood 

with her 

girls 

That showtime 

Charolais soap 

does wonders for 

my hair too 

Melita Corbett 

The face your heifer 

pulls when she hears 

covid ruined her show 

season 

Ruth Corbett 

Westcarse Harmony 

with cow-onavirus, spot 

the symptoms, no social 

distancing 

Paula Jessop 


38 


Fleurieu Ragnarok getting his 

daily cuddles 

Jordan Tipping 

Judith Hunter with 

Millbridge Princess 

Lockdown hair 

W Baxter 

Pedigree Charolais heifer 

from Cornwall 

Abi Lugg 

Cloybank Glamorous, who 

do you like the look of to sire 

your next baby 

Lucy Burke 

Richard Devine taking 

a nap! 

Every girl needs her prince 

Kelly Stott 

The three stooges 

Kim Brown 

True love kiss 

Amy Wilson 

Cove Oklahoma with 

Kelsey Kia-Smith 

A thorn between two roses 

Claire Germany 

Before social distancing was 

a thing 

Darragh McManus 

Boris waiting for the 

barbers to open 

Avril Aitken 

Lois Scott 

Alan Morrison 

Ruby kisses 

Sally Wheelhouse 

Balbithan Mississippi 

Julie Rooks 

I never get tired of 

being hugged 

G Kelly 

First heifer calf born on 

farm 

Ryan Smith 

Feeding time at the zoo 

Amy Wilson 

Caylers calves arent shy 

Louise Barker 

Cameron Durno with a 

newborn charolais 

cross calf 



Beef - can really have a green future 

What place does beef production have in the 

future, within the UK? 

To have a future and a strong place in the 

domestic food supply, beef will have to find 

a place that meets the desires and demands 

of consumers, aligns with government policy 

and fits within the strategic environmental 

commitments made by leading retailers. 

Beef production and farming as a whole is 

not alone in this changing landscape. Every 

business from leading FTSE based companies 

to small family firms will have to “join the 

journey” on climate commitments. 

To do this, they first have to establish where 

they are and where they genuinely want to 

be. As many farmers know, when moving 

animals between fields, some animals follow 

a lead and walk out to the new field, while 

others need to be chased out. 

This approach is one that many company directors have to 

grapple with, but for 

FTSE based companies 

the potential threat by 

leading investors such 

as pension companies, 

not to invest when 

there isn’t a clear 

strategic approach to 

climate change, will force then “out of the gate” very quickly. 

We know that red meat production has been the focus of a 

lot of negative publicly recently. Headlines on reducing red 

meat consumption and a carbon tax being added brings the 

situation right to the fore in everyone’s thinking. 

As always, establishing the true facts of the current beef 

production model and coupling this with policies from the 

devolved governments of the countries across the UK is not 

straight forward. All of the enterprises that feed into the beef 

industry have a critical role in working with and achieving 

ambitious environment targets. 

The whole supply chain from retailers, red meat processors, 

auction markets as well as all the industries that feed into 

the beef industry that focus on nutrition and genetics and 

ultimately of course farmers, need to aim to achieve the same 

goal of food production with net zero targets. 

Everyone in the whole chain must try to understand three 

points: 1) your government policy 2) retailer targets 3) how 

your business is currently performing from an environmental 

prospective. Once understood and evaluated, we all have 

to ask ourselves – Are we entering the next agriculture 

revolution? 

Harbro beef and sheep director 

David MacKenzie 

The stockmen who breed cattle the world 

over, with their traditional values that 

have been passed down the generations 

for selective breeding and utilising home 

grown cereals and forages are completely 

perplexed by the growing attack that red 

meat has had and is facing. 

Many farmers in rural upland areas 

produce a natural product that has been 

improved and advanced through scientific 

means, but in complete sync with the 

surrounding landscape and environment. 

This beef is produced by people with a 

deep sense of pride in their historic place 

in food production and security, not just in 

their local community, but throughout our 

entire nation. 

Business leaders such as the former 

governor of the Bank of England Dr Mark 

Carney and the business magnate and 

philanthropist Bill Gates have taken a global lead in engaging 

with politicians and business leaders in the depth of change in 

strategy, to meet net 

zero targets. 

“This exciting oppoprtunity gives a platform to ensure there will be no need 

for any government to set a red meat tax like sugar, as our natural protein 

will hold a valued place in the nation’s diet and not just eaten as a guilty 

pleasure” 

As more of the high 

level influencers join 

the stage, the more 

air time and media 

exposure this will bring. 

As the two major news stories of recent years, Britain’s 

departure from the European Union and the Covid pandemic 

both migrate back from the main news headlines, the 

climate crisis will receive more media attention. With the 

environment one of the main reasons people vote for a 

specific party in an election, every political party, particular 

in the UK and Europe, will have clear policies on delivering 

the targets set and will want, at all costs to avoid missing any 

published milestones on emissions and the environment. 

Looking to the future, everyone in the supply chain will need 

to come together to ensure that red meat production has a 

sustainable future, providing food security and key nutrients 

for our children and the nation’s health, while delivering on 

the goal of net zero. 

The outstanding value of Research and Development has 

delivered a vaccine for the Covid pandemic at breath taking 

speed. The meat eating public wants to see every stake holder 

adopt the same collective and coherent response to the 

climate challenge faced by the red meat production. 

Enjoying a natural protein source that has been produced 

to a high ethical standard without a negative environmental 

impact, gives the industry opportunity for real growth. 

Are we at the point where we need to accept and embrace a 

“climate crisis” more than the softer term of “climate change”? 

We cannot answer this until we fully evaluate our current 

position and the speed and depth of change needed to meet 

environmental targets and government policy. 

Whatever the future holds, consumers want a better 

understanding and connection to their food purchase. The 

industry must engage and educate the consumer and embrace 

the change and that will ensure beef has a strong place in a 

sustainable world. 


40 


Supply your EBV data 

Charolais breeders are being urged to supply performance 

information to the Charolais Society after it took all its 

recording work in house in 2020. 

The Charolais Society has brought everything in-house to 

coordinate all the estimated breeding value (EBV) data for 

society members, with a view to offering the same service to 

other beef breed societies in the longer term. 

One of the oldest herds in the country, which is kept by Ben 

Harman, whose grandfather Tony founded the Charolais 

Society in 1962 and was later made an MBE for services to 

agriculture. 

Like his grandfather, Ben – previous chairman of the society his 

grandfather founded – is a huge advocate of performance data 

recording and the “evidence-based decision making” it allows. 

“There is no way forward for cattle breeding without becoming 

more efficient, and the only way to get better at it is to record 

as much data as possible,” he said. “If we don’t know where 

we are now, we won’t know whether or not we have improved 

in future.” 

Ben, who trades as AS Harman Ltd, keeps 126 head of 

Charolais at Grove Farm in Chesham, Buckinghamshire and 

also buys and sells breeding bulls, making all his decisions 

based on performance figures, as well as visual assessment 

and his knowledge of pedigrees. 

His grandfather had a similar passion for improving the herd 

and successfully lobbied the authorities to allow beef farmers 

to bring in Continental genetics. “Shortly after that the society 

was born in the kitchen of this farmhouse,” Ben added. 

Ben Harman 

Ben believes that with performance recording working well 

in every area of agriculture, some beef farmers are missing 

out by not making the best use of the approach. And why 

Charolais? “Nothing does weight for age like Charolais do,” he 

said. 

Launching the appeal for breeders to keep their data up to 

date, the society said the aim was to help develop state-ofthe-art 

records for all animals so that it could continually 

improve the breed. Julie carried out the same work for the 

Simmental Cattle Society for more than eight years. 

“We’re always encouraging members to performance record 

all animals,” she said. “Once the data has been analysed 

by Agricultural Business Research Institute (ABRI) it allows 

selection by up-to-date traits such as calving 

ease.” 

EBVs measure an animals’ genetic potential 

and are collated from information on 

performance data such as birth weights, 

calving ease, fertility, growth and carcass 

value. 

Society chief executive Peter Phythian 

welcomed the move to take the recording 

in-house, explaining: “We are continually 

looking to make our work more efficient and 

speedy and we would urge all members to 

supply us with as much information on their 

stock as possible so our records can continue 

to be accurate.” 

For further details please email charolais@ 

charolais.co.uk 

Chesham Potemkine selling for 4,500gns 

at Welshpool April 2021 



A unique grazing agreement 

A unique grazing agreement, that sees suckler 

cows facing helicopter landings, army tanks and 

firing ranges, has helped Wiltshire beef producer 

James Waight win the Beef Farmer of the Year 

award. 

A tenant farmer on 4000ha of Salisbury Plain 

can bring many challenges, but his diligent herd 

management and careful work around land 

management on this organic unit, has been 

rewarded with national recognition for his job. 

He runs 450 suckler cows, mostly South Devon x 

Angus, with Charolais bulls as the terminal sire. 

The herd is split into a spring and autumn block, 

with his 15 Charolais bulls running with the 350 

spring calvers, and South Devon bulls used on the 

100-odd autumn calvers to breed replacements. 

The herd has been ‘closed’ for six years now, 

enabling him to offer buyer, ABP, full traceability. 

Enford Farm is about 15 miles north of Salisbury, 

and the predominantly chalk grassland is grazed 

all year round. It can be prone to drought, so 

grazing management is key, and James works 

closely with the MOD team and ecologists to raise 

profitable cattle at the same time as protecting 

and improving the environment. The area has 

40 out of the 200 pairs of British stone curlews, 

and the grazing is species rich, containing many 

wildflowers, orchids and herbs, with little ryegrass 

or perennials. The aim is to only graze down to 5cms to allow 

healthy regrowth. 

“This is the highest value chalk grass in Europe,” he says. “We 

protect it by grazing carefully and extensively. We rarely go 

over the same ground twice in any year.” 

He says there’s 

enough grass to 

keep the cows going 

all year, with the 

fatteners fed rolled 

barley and lucerne 

silage with added 

yeast over the winter. 

One of the usual 

aspects of the unit is 

the 20-acre electric 

fenced pens used to 

control the grazing. 

“Maintaining and 

moving the fencing is 

almost a permanent 

job,” says James. 

“We’re currently 

trying some virtual 

fencing with one 

group, and so far it 

seems to be working 

well.” 

About five years ago 

he started buying his 

James Waite 

Charolais bulls from 

the Cockerington 

herd of Ralph and 

Alastair Needham 

in Louth, Lincolnshire, and says the purchases have been 

consistent and are of good quality. 

“We’ve chosen a Charolais line with easier calving. Ours all 

calve outdoors, to we need to streamline the process. The 

need to get up and go. Their type ticks all our boxes. We need 

to get a live calf that grows 

well off grass, doesn’t need 

dehorning and grades well.” 

He says these bulls are 

‘producing the goods’ and 

most grade at |R. He’s still 

trying to get the finishing time 

down, but so far has reduced 

it from around 29 months to 

between 21 and 22 months 

with average weights of 350ks. 

“Looking ahead I’d like to bring 

the finishing time down to 

18/20 months with the same 

weights,” he says. 

Usually buying two bulls a year, 

he’s learnt to buy the better 

quality, pricier stock bulls, 

seeing how they can improve 

his returns. “Getting the 

balance right between growth 

rates and finishing, and time 

and grades is key, and that’s 

why I buy the best.” 


42 


He puts three or four bulls in 

with each group of 100 cows and 

has no temperament problems, 

finding they all get on well. They 

stay with their group for about 5 

weeks before being rotated with 

another group. 

“I always have a couple in reserve, 

if I see any flagging I switch them 

over. They go out around the 23 

May and come back in the first or 

second week of August.” 

What are his aims for the future? 

“I’m always trying to improve 

my genetics and streamline the 

finishing process. The way we 

manage the grazing is key as 

we look for more efficiency and 

better food conversion. We’re lucky to have an organic 

contract with ABP which gives us a premium, and we’re 

part of their home-bred scheme which is all about 

traceability.” 

Describing his relationship with the MOD as ‘very 

interesting’ he says none of the cows bat an eyelid with 

any of the noise – be it shots and shells from the firing 

ranges, helicopters landing n their paddocks or tanks and 

lotrries driving through their fencing… 

It is challenging at times, and 

I’ve learnt how important it is 

to have good people skills. I try 

to pick the right officers to have 

relationships, and we plan the 

areas we graze based on their 

training plans. About 90% of 

the time it works well, but there 

can be the odd occasion when 

something goes wrong!” 

The farm trades as Sargent 

and Waight and James is in 

partnership with his father Bruce 

who runs the business overall, 

and his brother Henry who looks 

after the arable side. There and 

three full-time staff and several 

part time, and at busy times they 

all muck in and provide support 

where needed. 

“The Charolais are the 

perfect terminal sire, in big 

demand from buyers, and 

have certainly given us the 

chance to successfully grow 

our suckler cow business.” 



High performing upland sheep and cattle farm 

Article written by Katrina Macarthur, courtesy of 

Farmers Guardian. 

Producing quality commercial livestock has long 

been the focus for the Gordon family from Huntly, 

Aberdeenshire, and is something they have strived 

to achieve each year. Katrina Macarthur reports. 

Since the Gordon family came to the farm in 

1879, Wellheads has become one of the bestknown 

upland farms in the north east of Scotland, 

producing top Charolais cross cattle for the store 

ring and tremendous prime lambs sold direct to the 

abattoir. 

John Gordon farms the 506-hectare (1,250-acre) 

unit in partnership with his wife Fiona and son 

Ewan, who is now the fifth-generation in the family 

business. 

Situated at 198 metres (650 feet) above sea level, 

the farm rises to 375m (1,230ft) and includes 202ha 

(500 acres) of rotational grass, 121ha (300 acres) 

of improved grazing, 162ha (400 acres) of rough summer 

grazing and hill, as well as 20ha (50 acres) of trees. 

History 

John says: “My great grandfather took on the tenancy in 

1897 and then my grandfather went on to purchase the farm 

in 1937. 

“Throughout the 1980s, we managed to secure some more 

neighbouring land to Wellheads, allowing us to extend the 

one unit and increase stock numbers over the years.” 

The beef enterprise includes 300 Limousin cross Simmental 

suckler cows which are all bulled to the Charolais to produce 

Father and son John and Ewan Gordon (right) 

yearling store cattle sold through Aberdeen and Northern 

Marts’ Thainstone Centre. 

All replacements are now bought-in as heifers with a calf at 

foot at breeding sales held at Thainstone, with the occasional 

few purchased at dispersal sales or privately. 

The father and son duo prefer to breed with the cross-bred 

cows as pure Simmentals can be too big and heavy on the 

ground. 

Ewan says: “The Limousin gives us an easily fleshed cow and 

the Simmental provides plenty of milk and good mothering 

attributes. 

Charolais cross heifers are produced for the store ring 


44 


A Limousin cross cow with an autumn-born Charolais cross calf at foot 

“We used to purchase some replacements as bulling heifers, 

but felt they were carried for a long time on the farm before 

we had a calf to sell and it proved costly to keep them 

when they were not being productive. We can now get the 

replacements bulled to the Charolais for their second calving 

while also having a strong calf to sell back through the ring.” 

John adds that the new system has allowed them to operate 

a tight calving pattern, with one half of the herd calving from 

February 1 through to April 20 and the other half calving in 

autumn from mid-August to October 20. 

“When calving heifers, it is a long calving period as you need 

to calve them a few weeks in front of the cows, so they have 

every chance to settle in-calf early as a second calver,” says 

John. 

The first Charolais bull came to Wellheads in 1973 and has 

since remained the herd’s main terminal sire. 

Sales 

Not only does the progeny sell at premium prices in the sale 

ring, but the calves also sell to the same buyers each year. 

John says: “The saying of cater to your market is very 

much a policy we follow because Charolais cross calves are 

undoubtedly the best sellers at Thainstone. 

“These calves constantly average £50 to £60 more than other 

breeds and they sell to buyers who are looking for cattle 

which are well grown for their age and carry a moderate bit 

of condition for moving onto a finishing system.” 

In recent years, spring-born steer calves sold in February 

have averaged 256p per kg or £1,126 at 440kg and springborn 

heifer calves levelled at 251p/kg or £1,030 at 410kg. 

From the autumn herd, male calves sold in September 

averaged 246p/kg or £1,163 at 473kg and heifer calves 

grossed 244p/kg or £1,064 at 435kg. 

“The Charolais breed is ideally suited as you can get them to 

a good weight for age at one-year-old,” says Ewan. 

“They go on and do well for the finishers who are taking 

them to 700kg liveweight or 400kg deadweight on a more 

concentrated cereal feed.” 

John adds: “There is a perception that using a Charolais bull 

can lead to calving difficulties, but I believe it is down to good 

cow management, having them fit, not fat. 

“It is also down to careful bull selection and matching the 

bull’s growth potential to the cow size. We do not like to 

buy an extreme bull but select one that is well shaped and 

fleshy.” 

Stock bulls from the Elrick and Harestone herds have bred 

well at Wellheads and the duo has just recently purchased 

two young bulls from David MacKenzie’s Thurso herd at 

Insch. 

Housing 

The steading is well equipped to house all the cattle through 

winter, although 50 of the spring-calving cows are kept out 

on the hill until the turn of the year and are fed trailer loads 

of silage and straw. 

Spring-born calves have access to creep feed from September 

onwards and the eldest calves are then weaned in mid- 

October. 

The youngest calves are housed with their mothers on slats 

and are weaned in November, allowing them to settle in 

while reducing the risk of pneumonia. 



“We put all of the spring-born calves onto slats once they 

are weaned and introduce them to a TMR of pit silage, straw, 

draff and treated barley,” says Ewan. 

“About six weeks before sale day and when the bulls come 

out of the autumn herd, we swap the spring-born calves 

over to straw-bedded courts to clean them up and 100 of the 

autumn-calving cows and their calves go onto the slats.” 

Feeding 

The autumn calves are weaned on August 1 and put 

onto silage aftermath before being sold at Thainstone in 

September, with the youngest kept on until the turn of the 

year and sold at the mart’s anniversary sale. 

Cows are moved onto bare grass field near to the steading 

and have access to straw and mineral buckets. 

As they move closer to calving, batches of 20 to 30 cows are 

brought inside for calving. They are then returned outside 

with their calves, with the entire autumn herd housed on 

November 1 and fed on a total mixed ration. 

The slats have been a great saving on straw for the Gordon 

family, especially when the farm is all in grass, with all straw 

being bought in the bout from local arable farmers. 

John says: “I believe the gross margin per acre is far greater 

from an acre of grass than it is from an acre of barley. We 

have grown barley in the past but believe we get more than 

double the output from the grass than we would from the 

crops. The slats are a great saving, but we do still generate a 

lot of muck which does wonders for the grass and means we 

do not have to buy-in potash fertiliser.” 

As well as a running a large-scale beef enterprise, the farm 

is home to 1,000 Scotch Mule ewes, 270 Mule ewe lambs 

for replacements and 30 pure Texel and Suffolk ewes which 

breed stock tups. 

The Mule ewe lambs are bought-in from top consignors at 

both marts at Stirling and are lambed as hoggs in mid-April to 

Charollais and Texel tups. 

These ewe lambs only run with the tup for one cycle to keep 

the lambing as compact as possible, with the aim of them 

rearing a single lamb only. 

Lambing 

All lambing takes place inside and commences with the pure 

ewes in February, followed on by the commercial flock from 

March 26 onwards. 

The Mule ewes scan at 205 per cent to 210 per cent and the 

Gordons go on to achieve a good lambing percentage of at 

least 195 per cent each year. 

“We have a very good survival rate because we lamb them all 

inside and someone is in the shed 24 hours a day,” says John. 

“We adopt a triplet lamb onto a single bearing ewe but if we 

do not achieve this, one of the triplets is taken off the ewe 

and goes into the pet lamb pen to ensure all triplet lambs go 

on and thrive. 

so important to keep the ewe in good condition for the year 

ahead.” 

Prime lambs 

The first of the prime lambs are drawn from mid-June 

onwards and they head direct to Woodhead Brothers, Turriff, 

followed by 120 lambs every week throughout July, August 

and September. 

All lambs are weaned from early August onto silage 

aftermaths and most are finished off the grass. The remaining 

lambs are put onto forage rape from mid-October, with all 

lambs on the farm being sold to the abattoir by Christmas. 

Although Brexit may be in the back of their minds at 

Wellheads, the Gordon family certainly remains positive for 

the future and there is no doubting that the farm will be in 

safe hands with the next generation. 

John says: “We are now early into Brexit and farming has 

been fantastic, with all classes of cattle and sheep trading at 

higher values. As a farmer, you have got to take the rough 

with the smooth and make the most of it, while being an 

ternal optimist at the same time.” 

Farm facts 

• The Gordon family has been farming at 

Wellheads for 142 years 

• 506-hectare (1,250-acre) unit home to 300 

suckler cows and 1,000 breeding ewes 

• All replacements are bought-in 

• Charolais cross stores are sold in large 

batches of 100 plus calves at Thainstone 

• The herd is vaccinated for BVD and 

pneumonia 

• More than 2,000 prime lambs sold to 

average £94 at 21.3kg deadweight 

All field work is done in-house apart from 

forage harvesting silage 

“Leaving the ewe with twins is much easier on her and it is 


46 


Thurso Paul makes £20,000 in private deal 

Thurso Paul, a September, 2019-born Charolais bull bred by 

Aberdeenshire-based David MacKenzie, has been sold privately in 

a deal that valued him at £20,000. 

Mr MacKenzie, who is better known as beef and sheep director at 

Harbro Feeds and is also a former stockman with the Mortimers 

Charolais herd, in Hampshire, and at Airdlin, Ellon, for the late Ian 

Thomson, sold a half share of the bull to the Milne family, buying 

for their Elgin herd at Kennishillock, Llanbryde, for £10,000. 

The remaining half has been retained for use in the Thurso herd 

which was best small herd and reserve overall in the last Scottish 

and Northern Charolais Club competition, and based at South 

Mains of Tillymorgan, Culsalmond. 

Backed by the best of genetics, he is by the French sire, Maerdy 

Gouverneur, and bred from Maerdy Melodic, a heifer bought 

privately from Esmor Evans, and got by semen from Vald’or-ra. 

A half share of Thurso Paul has been sold privately to 

the Milne family’s Elgin herd 

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Thank you to all the Sponsors of the 

Charolais World Congress 2022 


48 


The British Charolais Cattle Society Ltd are extending an invitation to Charolas breeders 

throughout the world to visit the United Kingdom. 

The Congress will visit Charolais herds and noted points of interest in England, Wales, Northern 

Ireland and Scotland. Not only will top quality Charolais herds be visited, but we will pass 

through some breath taking scenery and visit major visitor attractions. 

We look forward to extending a warm welcome to all participants 

World Charolais Congress Provisonal 

Schedule 7 - 18 July 2022 

Thursday 7th July London Heathrow Airport Hotel x 1 night 

Arrival into London Heathrow Airpot. Welcome at the airport and transfer and check into your hotel. Time to freshen 

up. Welcome drinks followed by dinner and Congress Presentation. 

Friday 8th July Telford area hotel x 2 Nights 

Check out and travel to 

Visit to the Caylers herd of Charolais 

Visit to Jaguar Land Rover, for a factory tour, see the state of the art production robotic line and hear about the tight 

precision of keeping this running. Arrive and check into your hotel 

Saturday 9th July 

Visit to the Oakchurch herd of Charolais 

Visit to the Teme herd of Charolais. Return to your hotel 

Sunday 10th July York city centre hotel x 2 nights 

Visit TBC 

Continued by a scenic drive and tour of historic York 

Monday 11th July 

World Congress AGM in the Hotel 

Free time to explore York for own shopping or sightseeing. Second night in York 

Tuesday 12th July Newcastle area hotel x 1 night 

Full day at the Great Yorkshire Show – Charolais National Show – This will be great! 

Wednesday 13th July Edinburgh area hotel x 1 night 

Check out and continue heading north into the beautiful Scottish Borders 

Visit to the Kersknowe herd of Charolais 

Visit to the Swalesmoor herd of Charolais. Arrive in Edinburgh and check into your hotel 

Thursday 14th July Carlisle area hotel x 1 night 

Visit to the Roscoe herd of Charolais 

Visit to the Allanfauld herd of Charolais 

Continue to Gretna 

Friday 15th July Belfast city hotel x 3 Nights 

Check out and head west for a visit to the Solwayfirth herd of Charolais 

Continue to the west coast for the afternoon ferry over to Northern Ireland 

Arrive into Belfast , short transfer to your hotel and check in 

Saturday 16th July 

Visit to the Brigadoon herd of Charolais 

Northern Ireland Charolais National Show at The Eikon Centre. Return to your hotel 

Sunday 17th July 

Free time to explore Belfast, own shopping or sightseeing. 

Final Gala Dinner aboard the Titanic Exhibition Museum. Return to your hotel 

Monday 18th July 

Depart from Belfast International Airport 



Caylers Charolais - A pedigree update courtesy of Harbro 

The Barker family has been involved with the 

Charolais breed for nearly 50 years when the 

Caylers herd was first registered with the breed 

society back in 1973. A family affair, David 

and Louise Barker now manage the herd at 

Caylers Farm, Nuthampstead near Royston, 

Hertfordshire. 

David alongside his brother Ronnie, manage 

the arable and haylage side of the business 

where wheat, oats, spring barley , rye grass 

and a small acreage of lucerne make up the 

rotation which covers 1000 acres. Their mother 

Greta – a former president of the Charolais 

Society - is less involved now but still takes an 

active interest. 

“My mother was the driving force behind the 

Charolais” says David. “She wanted a Charolais 

bull to run with the commercial herd. This was 

followed by the purchase of a few pedigree 

cows from a dispersal sale held locally. My 

father always spoke about ‘good-doers’ 

meaning cattle that are easy fleshed and this is 

the type of cattle we aim to breed and so the 

Charolais replaced the commercial herd and 

have stayed ever since. What we want are cattle that perform 

well, are soft-fleshed and that do well on grass and forage, 

with less reliance on grain.” 

Seeking an outcross bloodline, they bought one of their last 

stock bulls, Rosanna Jupiter from southern Ireland. The UK 

gene pool is getting smaller so they were looking to bring 

something new to the herd. 

When looking for a new bull, the Barkers take the following 

attributes into account. The animal must be correct and well 

balanced, of medium size, exceptional temperament with 

good head, feet and legs, good soft flesh but not extreme 

muscle. The pedigree is very important with particular 

attention paid to the female line. “The more good cows within 

Caylers Peroni, top price Welshpool April 2021, 7,600gns 

the pedigree, the better chance you have of a bull breeding 

well.” says David who also represents Southern England on the 

breed society council of management. 

“Since we took over managing the herd, the bulls that have 

had the most impact have been Killadeas Lloyd, Maerdy 

Uniroyal, Thrunton Dominator, Thrunton Goldeneye, Rosanna 

Jupiter and now we have a new junior stock bull Glenericht 

Pogba who we have high hopes for. Rosanna Jupiter in 

particular has done an outstanding job leaving both quality 

males and females.” 

The ethos at Caylers is to produce bulls which are 

commercially viable, they need to be in the right condition 

to do the job they are purchased for and with this in mind, 

particular attention is paid to fertility, feet and locomotion. 

Caylers Napoleon, top price Carlisle May 2019 12,000gns 

pictured with Louise and David Barker 

Caylers Napoleon 


50 


“We don’t feed the bulls too hard, we want 

them to last, to perform as they should 

and have repeat customers. This is very 

important to us” stressed David. “We are 

prepared to look after our customers and 

if there should be a problem, we will sort 

it out. They know that they are getting 

something genuine and that we will stand 

by them.” 

“We want to bring bulls on gradually 

without pushing them to the hilt and 

destroying them. We don’t like to see bulls 

that are over conditioned, with a purchaser 

having to keep them for two months to lose 

the fat. The body fat will disappear but the 

animal will also have laid fatty deposits in the scrotum which 

remain and results in them being infertile or subfertile.” 

Fat bulls are more likely to have fertility problems than 

bulls in good working condition. This effect has been clearly 

demonstrated in many studies. There are several reasons why 

fat bulls are generally less fertile, including fat deposition in 

the scrotum, which interferes with heat exchange. Behavioural 

and hormonal effects of overweight are also likely to be 

important. 

“Focusing on the animal’s health and 

wellbeing, not just their performance.” 

With approximately 120 head in the herd, the Barkers aim to 

calve 40 each year. Harbro Super Suckler SEC mineral is part 

of the nutrition regime for the cows which they receive with 

silage and straw prior to calving. Once calved, cows receive 

ad lib silage and 3kg of blend nuts for the first three months. 

Heifers are fed a mix of grass silage, lucerne silage, straw and 

Super Suckler until they are of breeding age. 

Bulls are creep fed from three months of age, with a blended 

nut comprising wheat feed, malt nuts, distillers dark grains and 

sugar beet nuts. They are housed over winter and fed a TMR 

of silage, blended nuts and Alkacid. Some straw is also fed to 

add some ‘scratch factor’ to the ration to stimulate rumen 

development. In the last three months prior to sale, bulls are 

fed a TMR of silage, Stockman’s Choice conditioning pellets 

and blended nuts. Silage is always included at 50% in the TMR. 

“In 2018, we started adding Alkacid to ensure that the rumen 

was at optimum conditions and pH. We immediately saw 

an improvement in daily liveweight gain and rumen health, 

indicated by a reduction in loose dung.” 

The Barkers have been using Harbro feeds since 2011. “One 

of the reasons we first started using Harbro was because they 

were focusing on the animal’s health and wellbeing, not just 

their performance. We appreciate the advice and support 

from Harbro. They understand what is required, are always 

very informative and helpful.” says David. 

“As a business we’ve always placed great value on the role 

of research and development to ensure we’re offering our 

customers the best possible solutions and advice.” says David 

Mackenzie, Harbro beef and sheep director. “In developing 

Stockman’s Choice, our pedigree feed range, we’ve consulted 

with many of our leading pedigree producers - including the 

Barkers - as well as nutritional partners including Glasgow Vet 

School to create a range we believe will help our customers 

with all breeds and systems to perform to the best of their 

genetic potential.” 

“We’ve taken a holistic view to the performance and wellbeing 

of pedigree stock and wanted to develop a range which 

not only supports the development of high performance 

animals but also considers their health, immunity, fertility and 

longevity. Stockman’s Choice is a feeding regime designed 

to implement the genetic improvements made by our world 

leading producers in to their progeny, for the benefit of the 

industry.” 

David and Louise both agree that the herd has got on very 

well this year, having had the best ever spring bull sale. “The 

genetics of the bulls we have and the nutrition have made a 

good combination” says Louise. 

In May 2021 at Carlisle, notching up 14,000gns was Caylers 

Rocky, born in January 2020 which sold to H Goldie, 

Dumfriesshire and 12,000gns was paid for Caylers Rambo 

which went to the commercial herd of Williams Partners, 

Bridgend, south Wales. Both these bulls were sired by Rosanna 

Jupiter. 

“We immediately saw an improvement in 

daily liveweight gain and rumen health.” 

The herd also took top price at the breed sale at Welshpool 

in April 2021 with the hammer falling at 7600gns for Caylers 

Peroni, sired by First and out of Caylers Neeve, a daughter of 

Rosanna Jupiter. 

Stock from the Caylers herd is in high demand and has seen 

prices steadily rise. In 2018, 13 bulls were sold to average 

£5800, with a top price of £9000 for two bulls. 12 bulls sold 

in 2019 to average £6480 with a top price of two bulls at 

£12,000. 

“In 2020, we sold 10 bulls during the pandemic with no live 

sales to average £5000, mostly to repeat customers and a 

top price of £10,000. So far in 2021, nine bulls have sold to 

average over £8000 through markets and private sales.” added 

Louise. 



Fiona 25 years at Charolais, 1996 - 2021 

I was pleased when I was asked to write 

something for the September newsletter about 

my last 25 years at the Charolais Cattle Society. 

There’s a lot of happy memories, and hopefully 

I can mention a few and bring back some 

memories for everyone as well. 

I remember the day David rang me to say there 

was a position coming up at Charolais and 

was asked whether I interested. I had left the 

Limousin’s three months earlier. I went to see 

David and Joy and they asked when I could start. 

I was over the moon, and pleased to be back in 

the cattle world. I was especially proud to be 

working for Charolais, and I still am. 

A couple of months after starting with Charolais 

my late father Christy Bennett became farm 

manager for the late Mr Denis Parkin, Wroxall, 

Warwick who owned the Piperhaywood herd 

of Charolais. Mr Parkin also built the Charolais 

offices at Stoneleigh which was officially opened 

by HRH Queen Sofia in 1993. Ive lots of happy 

memories of the farm and was always nice to 

see the Charolais. 

When I started with Charolais we had a digital 

computer system which had been installed in 1982, the screen 

was very different to the screens of today. I had a typewriter 

and of course of bottle of tippex to hand. Everything had to 

be filed manually, but can now be scanned to the computer. 

The office is surrounded by cupboards of filing, all of which is 

now slowly being saved to the computer, being replaced with 

hundreds of DNA hair samples. How things have changed over 

the past 25 years. We now have ILR2, laptops, emails, mobile 

phones, a mostly paperless system, DNA and lots more…. 

We still have the same IT guy, Paul Day who was working for 

Charolais when I started. 

In 1998, the Society introduced a PC based system which was 

supported by Holstein UK. 

In 2004 the Society started looking for its next upgrade, 

which would give the members the opportunity for online, 

telephone or traditional paper. It found that ABRI and 

Breedplan offered the full package accompanied with the 

latest technology. The changeover was quite a traumatic time 

for the office, building the system up from scratch. Changes 

are still ongoing, and we’re hoping to have a new online 

system soon for members. By the time 

you’re reading this we’ll also have a new 

and improved website www.charolais. 

co.uk 

At one time we would all be sat 

downstairs in the pavilion for the 

newsletter mailouts. David would be 

on hand to lift the heavy sacks ready for 

the postman (in between phone calls!) 

The postman at the time was quite hot 

headed and with over 2,000 newsletters 

going out at one time, he wasn’t too 

happy on those days. They’re now sent 

out from a mailing house which makes 

Christy Bennett 

2012 Back Row: Sue, Fiona, Margaret, 

Angela Back row:Joy, David and Pat 

life a lot easier for us, and saves the Society 

money. 

The last 25 years we have had 15 Chairman: 

1996 A Adam, 1997 – 1998 D Lewis, 1999 

– 2000 JJ Wight, 2001 – 2002 P M Donger, 

2003 – 2004 DM Lyle, 2005 – 2006 JT Wilson 

FRAgS, 2007, S J Nesbitt, 2008 – 2009 JW 

Millar, 2010 – 2011 MP Donaghy, 2012 – 

2013 AG Houston MBE DL, 2014 – 2015 SJ 

Nesbitt, 2016 AB Hornall FRAgS, 2017 – 2018 

RC Curry, 2019 – 2020 B Harman, 2021 AP 

Drysdale. 

The honorary board is now full, and we’re 

onto a new board ready to fill with the next 

50 years. 

There’ve been three treasurers in my 25 

years, Peter Donger, Mervyn Parker and now 

Graham Robinson, and not to mention all the 

vice-chairman and council members who’ve 

all been lovely to work with. 

My work colleagues over the past 25 years 

(mostly for over 20 years) were David 

Benson, Joy McCutcheon, Margaret Percy, 

Pat Reason, Angela Price, Sue Stenner, Cathey Spencer, Emily 

Binions and Heather Brookes. Margaret sadly passed away just 

before she was due to retire. 

Things have changed in recent years, we now have Peter, 

Rusmi, Rebecca, Mandy, Charlotte and myself. 

In 1997 I was involved with my first convention when British 

Charolais held the 30th World Convention. The International 

Charolais President at the time was Drew Adam who has sadly 

passed away. We had more than 200 delegates fly in for the 

event which was centred around the Royal Show. 

I remember us all sitting downstairs, packing over 200 bags full 

with goodies for all the delegates who very much appreciated 

the gifts. 

At the Royal Show, Andrew Hornall exhibited Chesham 

Hercules and Cambusbarron Faye to win the Burke Trophy as 

well as the Charolais championship. 

After the Royal Show we set off to go to Yorkshire with the 

Charolais Convention. We all had a fantastic weekend. The 

highlight was the dinner held at Ripley 

Castle. A fantastic setting with great 

entertainment, food and partying, and 

needless to say, a few sore heads the 

next day. 

The Royal Shows were always the 

highlight of the year and we all 

enjoyed the weeks, meeting the 

members and seeing the cattle. 

Always a good night would be held 

in the Charolais Pavilion, with lovely 

food, plenty of drink and great 

entertainment from Joy’s husband 


52 


Ian’s band. 

February 2001 

saw the outbreak 

of Foot and 

Mouth Disease, 

which was a 

heart-breaking 

time for a lot of 

our members, 

affecting more 

Barnsford Ferny 

than 100 

Charolais herds. A 

difficult time for 

the office with so much sadness, we could only offer support 

where possible. 

In 2002 we saw the 40 th Anniversary of Charolais. The BCCS 

President at this time was Mrs Greta Barker and the BCCS 

Chairman was Peter Donger. Two bulls made 25,000gns that 

year, Maerdy Rudman at Perth in February and Thrunton 

Socrates again at Perth in October. The BCCS celebrated with 

a 40 th Anniversary party prior to the Royal Show at the Hilton 

Hotel in Warwick. This was attended by members and their 

families and guests including delegations of French Breeders. 

An auction was held on the evening of Charolais memorabilia 

where £3,292 was raised for Challenging Childhood Cancer 

and Leukemia. A great evening was had by everyone. 

Peter and Sheelagh Donger held a farm tour of their Seawell 

Charolais cattle. This also included a discussion on EBVs and a 

scanning demonstration by the Signet team. 

In 2009 we 

announced a 

new annual 

award for genetic 

improvements 

made, for genetic 

progress in the 

herd in the past 

12 months, the 

Harman Awards, 

presented by the 

Vexour Garth 

Harman Family. 

That year also saw 

the final multibeef 

breed week staged at Perth’s Huntingtower Centre, prior 

to relocating to its new Centre in Stirling. The end of an era 

saw the Charolais achieving an all breeds record of 7,496 bulls 

sold for the highest average of 3,827gns at the breeds official 

fixtures in February and October, during the centre’s 19 year 

span. 

Charolais, records were smashed at the rebranded Stirling bull 

sales on Wednesday 24 October 2012, when Vexour Garth was 

bid to 100,000gns, a new world breed record, together with 

a new centre cattle breed average of 7,699gns for 90 bulls 

sold at the society’s official autumn show and sale. All the 

staff were up for the 50 th Anniversary Dinner which was held 

at Airth Castle. Another fantastic evening for Charolais. We 

had all been sitting around the ringside for some time, I’d just 

popped out to stretch my legs to come back to find Vexour 

Garth had just sold for 100,000gns, and I’d missed it! The 

atmosphere was something else. 

The Charolais World Convention was also held in 2012 starting 

with an evening dinner at Stratford Upon Avon. The visitors 

enjoyed another great event organized by British Charolais and 

Farm Tours. 

I’ve attended several Highland Shows, where the AGM was 

held. The weather always unpredictable, one year having a 

heat wave then another torrential rain, with Angela and myself 

having to go and buy wellingtons with the mud up over our 

ankles. We did well selling umbrellas that year, totally sold 

out before the judging even started. Always a lovely show, 

whatever the weather. 

In 2016 we celebrated Joy’s 40 years with Charolais and my 

20 years. Then just a year later we saw David and Joy retiring, 

followed by Pat and Angela a few months later. A lovely 

evening was held at Gretna Green for David’s retirement. 

They are all missed. 

We now have the World Charolais Convention coming to the 

UK in 2022, which we’ll all be looking forward to, especially 

after the Covid situation. It will be good for everyone to be 

able meet up again, and I’m sure more happy memories will 

be made. 

After the AGM held on 24 June I had a lovely suprise 

when i was presented with a lovely 

Charolais Picture, 

Beautiful necklace and 

flowers for my 25 years 

in Charolais, thank you 

everyone. 

It’s been a great 25 years, 

some highs and lows but 

Charolais will always be 

the BEST. 

Keep safe everyone. 

Fiona 

By 2009 Charolais also held the 

55,000 Centre breed record twice 

with Thrunton Voldemorte in 

2006 and his first son in the ring, 

Sportsmans Columbo in 2009. 

Stirling, October 2011 then saw 

a new breed record price of 

70,000gns for Barnsford Ferny from 

Tom and Sheena Gatherer. Their 

first time selling at Stirling. 

And then in 2012 – on the 50 th 

Anniversary of Charolais the British 

Allen Drysdale, Gareth Roberts, Jeremy Price, Michelle, Mandy, Fiona, Ben Harman, 

Charlotte, Peter, Mike Atkinson and Graham Robinson 



Ken Piper, Mortimers Charolais 

Ken was born in Portsmouth - the 

youngest of five children - he was 

educated locally and, with financial 

help from his eldest brother, went on to 

attend Oliver’s College in Portsmouth. 

He completed an apprenticeship as a 

marine and general engineer and also 

qualified as a heating and ventilating 

engineer designing and installing 

systems for large buildings - warehouses 

- factories - glass houses in Holland - 

churches and cathedrals. After service in 

the RAF, he became a Technical Advisor 

for the US Air Force in the UK and 

Europe. 

In 1966 he formed a company called 

Brooklyn Engineering Southern in 

Chandler’s Ford - specialising in second 

dhand Land Rovers, Bedford lorries 

and heavy plant machinery which was 

exported to many countries around the 

world. 

During all of this time Ken was also becoming well known for 

his motor sport prowess. His racing career began at the age of 

17 with motorcycles – trials, scrambling and grasstrack racing, 

all with considerable success. But his real love was racing cars 

at which he excelled, competing nationally and internationally, 

including Monte Carlo rallies. He was a works driver for DKW 

(later to become Audi) and also raced in Sunbeam Rapiers, 

Mercedes, Messerschmitt’s, Fords, Mini Coopers and several 

‘Specials.’ 

A serious accident while racing in the early 1970’s (filming 

for a Duckhams Oil advertisement) led to Ken’s involvement 

in another project. Together with two like-minded friends, 

they purchased and transformed an old nursing home in 

Winchester into Sarum Road Private Hospital. It was to 

become one of the leading private hospitals in the south. 

Ken’s love of animals and the countryside had begun. As a 

small boy he was evacuated to a farm during the war and he 

determined that he would one day own his own farm. it was 

in 1979, together with wife Charlie Girl, that they purchased a 

derelict farm, described in the auctioneers catalogue as having 

‘no mains services to the property, no water, no electricity, 

no gas and please note that the house and buildings are in 

an unsafe condition and persons viewing do so at their own 

risk’. But they could see potential and work to realise Ken›s 

long outstanding dream began. Buildings, fences and fields 

were gradually reinstated, with a great deal of hard work, 

heartache and frustration, together with a lot of fun and 

laughter, learning new skills and making new friends. 

During the renovations Ken bought Charlie Girl a surprise 

‘gift’ - in the form of twenty calves, still with no mains services 

just the well for water. There was a very derelict pigsty for 

housing, a few old buckets and a bag of milk powder. More 

similar ‘gifts’ followed and gradually records began to show 

that the strengths and growth rates of the Charolais X’s were 

outweighing other breeds. Ken’s enthusiasm for the Charolais 

breed began to take hold. After more research and farm visits 

he decided that ‘grading-up’ would be too slow a process and 

pedigree was the way forward. The very first purchase was 

some pedigree cows from the local dispersal sale of Roger 

Chapman and Jim Reids Monymusk herd in the early 80’s. 

The MORTIMERS CHAROLAIS HERD had 

begun. 

A visit to the Royal Show in 1984, with judges in bowler hats 

and ladies wearing hats on show day (no shorts or t’shirts in 

those days) led to the purchase of Chesham Twilight from Tony 

Harman - when auctions were held at the Royal. 

Subsequent purchases were selected from well proven 

bloodlines at pedigree sales - dispersals and private sales 

with a few French Imports. To Ken his animals had to first 

and foremost look good - have a good strong head and have 

presence and power - the figures came later. 

Ken’s competitive nature came to the fore again with his 

animals and Mortimers cattle have been regularly exhibited 

throughout the years - at County and National shows with 

considerable success in all age groups, including Breed 

Champion and Supreme Champion at both the Royal and the 

Royal Highland Show and major shows across the country. 

Showing continued up to the pandemic when in 2019 

Mortimers Natalya won Breed Champion and Supreme at 

South of England and Alresford Shows - Breed Champion at 

the New Forest and Edenbridge - and with Mortimers Novelty 

pairs Champions at the Great Yorkshire Show. Mortimers 

Overjoyed was Breed Champion at Bucks County and Newbury 

Shows. We hope that if, and when, some form of normality 

returns and shows restart, Mortimers will once again be proud 

exhibitors. 

Ken was a great supporter of the Charolais breed and loved 

to attend the shows and sales and meet up with other 

owners and stockpersons. He willingly sponsored events 

and show classes, hosted overseas visitors, held open days 

and demonstrations at the farm, and was particularly keen 


54 


to support and encourage the younger generation, hosting 

events for students from Sparsholt Agricultural College and the 

local Young Farmers. He loved the company of young people. 

He was partcularly thrilled when the Maclean boys – Angus, 

Charlie and Donald as ‘Brothers in Farming’ won the National 

Young Stars in 2017. 

Ken would be the first to acknowledge that none of this 

would have been possible without the expertise, support 

and dedication of those around him. Most notably the 

Maclean family, who for many years, in so many ways, helped 

ensure that Ken was able to follow and enjoy the progress, 

development and success of his beloved cattle, especially 

during the later years when his interest remained active but 

his health failed him and he was confined to his bed. 

Ken had led a full and very busy life, he was a true gentleman, 

a great communicator and storyteller, interested in people 

and loved their company. He loved travel, but was happiest 

at home. He was very proud to be British and thought we 

lived in the best country in the world, a real workaholic with 

great strength and resolve. He had a very firm handshake and 

looked people straight in the eye and helped so many people 

in so many ways. He loved the ladies, and could charm the 

birds from the trees. Navigation was not his strong point, but 

he was brilliant in the driving seat. Proof if needed was when, 

in his mid 70’s with a little encouragement from Charlie Girl, 

they rallied their Jaguar XKR in northern Spain and set up 

fastest times at the Grand Prix circuit at Catalunya Barcelona 

- and at a more leisurely pace drove Route 66 and rallied in 

Southern Ireland, France and Germany. 

A truly amazing man who will be so missed by those who 

knew and loved him. 

Bob Roberts, Brynffanigl Charolais 

Bob purchased his first Charolais in 1978, a stock bull from 

Carlisle. So impressed he was with the offspring that he 

decided to start breeding. In 1980, he purchased Wincote 

Isabella and her calf, Peres, from the Nelson family. It is with 

this breeding background that he had his best success selling 

Brynffanigl Arwr in Perth for 18,000 gns. 

one of the highlights of his calendar. He had an entry there 

every year for the last 30 years. His best success at the Royal 

Welsh was with Brynffanigl Director who was awarded Reserve 

Charolais Champion and Junior Interbreed Champion Bull. 

In Stirling, he went on to be Reserve Champion and sold for 

9,000 gns. 

Over the years breeding Charolais, he made many friends 

whilst selling bulls in Perth, Stirling, Carlisle and Welshpool. 

He would often attend the sales when not buying or selling to 

meet friends. Bob was also a firm believer in supporting local 

shows and would spend the summer months pulling the trailer 

around the Welsh country lanes. The Royal Welsh Show was 

On Bob’s behalf, Diolch yn Fawr to all the friends he made over 

the past 40 years. 

Pencampwr y Charolais ac ein calonnau, Yn fwrlwm direidus, 

ffrind pawb oedd Bob 



Alasdair Houston, Scottish cattle breeder and entreprener 

Alasdair Houston always had a twinkle in 

his eye, despite tough times. 

Almost every one of the hundreds of 

tributes to Alasdair who died recently, 

referred to him as a gentleman and 

many enhanced this accolade with 

words such as “perfect” and “complete”. 

Making this description all the more 

remarkable is that he was also a highly 

successful businessman. As the driving 

force behind the development of 

Gretna Green into one of Scotland’s 

top tourist attractions, he had recently 

demonstrated his resilience in rebuilding 

and adding to the business in the wake 

of the Covid pandemic. 

Alasdair had shown this same ability 

to pick up a business after it had been 

hit with a totally unforeseen disaster 

when his famous Gretnahouse pedigree 

cattle were culled in the 2001 Foot and 

Mouth outbreak. Although none of his 

cattle were infected with the virus, he 

watched them being slaughtered as part of the wider disease 

control plan. He then rebuilt the herd from scratch, and the 

Gretnahouse name is now, once again, renowned in the 

farming world, hosting one of the UK’s top pedigree breeding 

herds of Charolais cattle. 

In a further demonstration of his resilience, one of Alasdair’s 

final acts was to finally secure private funding to create a 

monumental public artwork, The Star of Caledonia. It was 

conceived 20 years ago as a symbol of ambition, recovery, 

energy, innovation and regeneration after the devastation 

of the Foot and Mouth pandemic. The Star, built on a piece 

of farmland the family has donated, will welcome everyone 

entering Scotland at the Border at Gretna Green. 

For centuries, people the world over have known the village of 

Gretna Green for weddings, as couples eloped over the Border 

from England to take advantage of Scotland’s more relaxed 

marriage laws. Pre-Covid, Gretna Green performed 10 per 

cent of all weddings in Scotland, and welcomed over 800,000 

visitors a year to this family business, started by Alasdair’s 

great-grandfather. Reflecting its importance nationally, the 

team at Gretna Green Ltd earlier this year. won the Queen’s 

Award for International Trade. A decade earlier, Alasdair had 

been awarded an MBE for services to tourism. 

In developing the centre, Alasdair and his team saw, in 2006, 

that if the village was to fulfil its destiny as the wedding 

destination, wedding parties needed good places to stay 

and celebrate, so a new hotel was built, Smith’s. In 2014, he 

bought a second hotel, fully refurbished and rebranded it 

“Greens at Gretna, First Hotel in Scotland”. And in 2016 he 

bought a third hotel in the village, the 97-bedroom Gretna 

Hall. 

Although diagnosed with cancer in 2018, Alasdair continued 

to look forward in business, setting up new sales divisions 

including a Chinese orientated retail website two years ago. 

In farming, Alasdair’s 

main interest was in 

breeding pedigree cattle 

and his attention to 

bloodlines brought his 

cattle to prominence. 

Initially he worked with 

two Continental breeds, 

Charolais and Simmental, 

both of which his father 

had imported in the 1970s. 

Alasdair took over the 

cattle in 1985, and, after 

a decade and a half of 

careful and well-thoughtout 

breeding, Gretnahouse 

cattle often came at the top 

end of the trade. 

Then in 2001, it all went 

up in smoke with the herd 

incinerated as part of the 

forced cull of livestock 

during the Foot and Mouth 

pandemic. Making this 

slaughter more difficult to 

take, none of the herd had tested positive for the virus. 

However, his determination not to give up sent him back to 

the drawing board. He traced and bought back bloodlines of 

Gretnahouse stock previously sold to herds around the country 

and, aided by some frozen embryos he had stored, started up 

again. He built back the Charolais cattle first, and Alasdair’s 

Gretnahouse herd is once again one of the most influential 

in the national Charolais herdbook, with bulls selling for over 

£25,000 twice at recent national sales. His leadership skills and 

enthusiasm for the breed saw him appointed the chairman of 

the Charolais society in 2012 and 2013. 

In May 2021, shortly before his death, Alasdair admitted he 

was “honoured and overwhelmed” when awarded the Sir 

William Young Award by the Royal Highland and Agricultural 

Society of Scotland in recognition of his “exceptional 

contribution to the world of cattle breeding”. 

An accomplished athlete in his youth, Alasdair was a speedy 

rugby player at outside centre and wing when he captained 

the first XV at Glenalmond College. He went on to play at both 

Langholm Rugby Club, and later as a student at Magdalen 

College, Cambridge, prior to suffering a serious back injury 

in a car crash that stopped a very promising rugby career. 

Undaunted, he decided, post-recovery, to do the Cresta 

Run, the infamous toboggan run in St Moritz, Switzerland, 

with a group of friends. Much to the horror of his sisters, he 

completed his official run unscathed, as well as completing 

it unofficially, a second time on a tea tray at 3am after a few 

drinks! He held a private pilot’s licence, justifying it, with 

a twinkle in his eye, by saying he could observe what his 

neighbours were up to. 

He loved meeting people both professionally or in his personal 

life and, along with his wife Lucy, they and their children Tara 

and Rafe hosted some legendary parties over the years. 


56 


NOSTALGIA, 25 Years ago with Charolais 

Picture 1 - Royal Ulster Reserve Supreme Champion Regaile Jacobi. 

Picture 2 - Carlisle Champion Charolais was Kelton Jeaneau from Gelston Castle Farms Ltd who sold for 3,000gns 

Picture 3 - Perth Supreme Champion Stirling Jonquille sold for 4,500gns. 

Picture 4 - Part of the crowded ringside at the Maerdy/Fairway sale. 

Picture 5 - Royston Fleur won the Reserve Interbreed Championship in the Nat West sponsored competition. 

Picture 6 - Carlisle Supreme Champion Tusmore Jasper sold for 4,400gns. 

Picture 7 - The President, Mr Barrington Robinson with the overall winner Joseph Blandford and second overall, Hazel 

Fotheringham and sponsor of the competition, Mr David Fattorini. 

Picture 8 - The Fitzhugh Trophy winners at the Royal Welsh Show were Rachel Wyllie’s Brailes Jerome and Richard 

Hassell’s Penfold Gypsophila. 

See Page 28 for pictures 

SALES ENTRY REQUIREMENTS 

BVD VACCINATIONS - ALL Charolais cattle forward at BCCS auspices sales are to be vaccinated against BVD (Bovine Viral 

Diarrhoea) as per the manufacturers instructions. 

For herds which are in a CHeCS approved health scheme and are BVD accredited they do not have to be BVD blood antigen 

tested, but must be fully BVD vaccinated. 

For the herds which are not BVD accredited, then potential sale cattle should be BVD antigen tested negative, and 

given the first BVD vaccination on the same day as the blood sample is taken. If the BVD antigen test is negative, the 

animals should then be given the second vaccination 3-4 weeks later (if using a double jab vaccine). BVD antigen testing 

certificates must accompany the cattle to the sale or they will be rejected from the sale. 

IMPORTANT - Do not vaccinate cattle just prior to the sales as immunity to BVD will not have built up sufficiently. 

CATTLE NOT FULLY VACCINATED FOR BVD WILL NOT BE ALLOWED ENTRY TO THE AUCTION CENTRE. 

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE STIRLING FEBRUARY AND OCTOBER SALES ARE EXCLUSIVE FOR ABRI 

BREEDPLAN RECORDED BULLS WHICH MUST (AS A MINIMUM REQUIREMENT) BE RECORDED FOR 

BIRTH WEIGHT, 200 DAY WT, 400 DAY WT AND BE INDEPENDENTLY ULTRA SOUND SCANNED AND 

HAVE HAD A SCROTAL CIRCUMFERENCE MEASUREMENT 

THE CHAROLAIS CONSIGNORS MUST ALSO BE MEMBERS OF A CHEcS HEALTH SCHEME 

HEALTH DECLARATION FORMS CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE CHAROLAIS OFFICE OR 

DOWNLOADED FROM THE CHAROLAIS WEBSITE www.charolais.co.uk 



Scottish & Northern - Carlene Mackay 

I thought it was only right to say a 

few words in this month’s newsletter 

with having had a few more things to 

write about, and the fact that we’re 

‘fingers crossed’ coming to the end of 

a very long time of being apart from 

our fellow members, breeders, family, 

loved ones and friends. With several 

events looking to go ahead again, It 

means we will all be able to catch up 

over a well-deserved drink or two and 

get back to how things used to be. I, for 

one, have missed seeing familiar and 

friendly faces at RHS and other events 

that I get involved with during the 

show calendar year. Hopefully see you 

all very soon… 

Royal Highland Show 2021 Scottish 

Showcase – Tuesday 15 June, 2021 

With the RHS being our annual holiday, 

it’s been a great miss for most of us in 

our show calendar. This year though 

the RHS team managed to bring us 

a spectator online-only event with 

competitors able to attend in person 

along with their cattle. Four classes 

of Charolais cattle were put forward 

in front of Ellis Mutch, Burnside of 

Whitefield, Turriff. 

Ellis found his champion in the mighty 

form of 5-year-old Maerdy Morwr 

from AJR Farms, Ellon, Aberdeenshire. 

This bull was purchased from breeder 

D E Evans back in 2018 and is sired 

by Maerdy Dynamite, his dam is 

Maerdy Fee, a daughter of French born 

Victorieux. 

Standing reserve to the Charolais 

Champion was the Champion 

Female TOPHILL ROXANNE. She 

belongs to Mr Thor Atkinson of 

Cumbria, who purchased her from 

breeder Mr A J Stott in February 2021. 

This young heifer is out of Hackleton 

Hetty, a daughter of Mulroog Alpine, 

and was sired by Hackleton Largerlout. 

The Charolais breed also took home 

the top prize within the Continental 

Beef Interbreed Pair Championship. 

First place in this competition 

went to the tremendous pairing 

of HARESTONE MAMMAMIA and 

the previously mentioned MAERDY 

MORWR. Mammamia was bred and 

exhibited by R & N Barclay of Insch, 

Aberdeenshire and shown by stockman 

Robert Marshall. Mammmia was 

1 st in her class in the judging. She is 

sired by Maerdy Dublin, and her dam 

is Harestone Brigitte, a daughter of 

Harestone Ronsard. 

AGM 2021 – Sunday 17 October, 2021 

Notice is hereby given that the Forty 

Ninth Annual General Meeting of the 

Scottish and Northern Charolais Club 

will be held in The Lomond Suite, UA 

on Sunday 17 October, 2021 at 4.00 

pm sharp. All our members are very 

welcome and if there are any points 

to be raised at the AGM & Committee 

Meeting then please let me know 

beforehand. We’re always looking for 

new committee members so please get 

in touch if you would like to join the 

Committee. 

Stars of the Future Calf Show – 

Saturday 13 November, 2021 

The UK’s biggest and best calf show can 

finally announce that the show will be 

held on Saturday 13 November 2021 at 

United Auctions, Stirling. Entries open 

at the start of September so keep an 

eye on the S&N Club’s Facebook page 

where we will share the link for the 

entries. It would be great to ensure 

that the Charolais section entries 

this year matches the calf show – the 

biggest & best. 

Alasdair Houston Obituary 

We have had the loss of an absolute 

true gentleman within our club 

recently, 

Alasdair 

sadly passed 

away in June 

after a long 

illness and 

can only be 

described as 

much loved 

by family, 

friends, 

colleagues, 

and the 

farming 

community. Just before he passed away 

he was awarded the Royal Highland 

and Agricultural Society of Scotland 

Sir William Young Award for his 

exceptional contribution to the world 

of cattle breeding. Our thoughts are 

with his wife Lucy and their children 

Tara & Rafe at this difficult time. 

Birthday Celebrations 

A very 

happy 

70th 

Birthday 

to Roy 

Milne & 

a very 

happy 

40th 

Birthday to Matthew Milne. Wishing 

you both all the very best on your 

special milestone birthdays and we’ll 

all join you for a small sherry the next 

time we see you both. 

Very many happy 

returns on your 

60th birthday Chris 

Curry - hope you 

have a great time 

celebrating in style. 

A very happy 

40th birthday 

to Carlene, 

hope you had a 

lovely birthday 

and celebrated 

well. From all at 

charolais. 

Weddings 

Congratulations to our Society 

chairman and past chairman of the 

Scottish & Northern Club, Allen 

Drysdale and his wife Fiona. They 

had the most gorgeous weekend of 

sunshine for their happy day, and we 

wish them all the very best of love, luck 

and happiness for their future ahead. 


58 


Border - Betty Graham 

We’re now into August and having 

had good spells of weather. Hopefully 

everyone has secured good crops of 

silage and hay ready for the winter 

ahead. Rules for COVID have now 

been relaxed, hopefully everyone has 

received their vaccinations, and we can 

look forward to a more normal life with 

events able to take place. 

May Sale 

The May Sale at Carlisle held on 15 

May was one of the first sales when 

judging was allowed, and it was good 

to witness this. The 49 bulls sold 

averaged a whopping £7142 and 14 

females sold to average £3750, this 

reflected the high quality of bulls on 

offer. 

The Gretnahouse herd took top price 

honours with well turned-out bulls 

from Alasdair and John, who kept the 

flag flying for the Border Club. 

Top price of the day was 20,000gns 

paid for Gretnahouse Pouncer. This 

son of Westcarse Jimmy was 18 

months old. He was closely followed 

by Gretnahouse Pimp who sold 

for 16,000gns and again sired by 

Westcarse Jimmy. Third in the price 

stakes was Annanview Prince from K 

Watret of Annan who sold the son of 

Wesley Equinox for 15,000gns. 

14,000gns was paid for Caylers Rocky, 

a first prize winner who now joins 

the herd of Hamish Goldie. Three 

bulls sold for 13,000gns, two sold 

for 12,000gns followed by two at 

10,000gns, these prices showed the 

demand for good bulls at this sale. 

Females sold to 6000gns which was 

paid for Harestone Pasadena. 

Obituary 

recognition of his contribution to cattle 

breeding. 

Our thoughts are with Lucy and family 

Tara and Rafe at this difficult time and 

we would all like to thank them for 

their help and kindness shown to the 

Border Club over the years, together 

with John Morton who was a fantastic 

stockman for the herd. Please see 

main obituary on page 56. 

Other News and Events 

Congratulations to Ed and Sharon 

Holliday, (Cleamire) on the birth of 

their son on 2 August. Edwin Joseph, 

to be known as Teddy, weighed in at 

10lbs 4oz and is a little brother for 

Sadie. 

Welcome to Joseph Speak who is taking 

over as farm manager at Gretna House. 

We wish him well in his new post and 

hope to see him at our events. 

Friday 29 October - Agri Expo at 

Borderway Mart, Carlisle. 

We will have our stand in conjunction 

with the Society with a display of cattle 

and refreshments (rules allowing) 

Please call round to see us and have a 

cuppa. 

Saturday 13 November - Stars of the 

Future Calf Show to be held at United 

Auctions, Stirling. 

Club events will resume as regulations 

allow and arrangements are confirmed. 

Please check our Facebook page for 

details. 

The following month we all heard the 

sad news of the passing of Alasdair 

Houston. 

He was a true gentleman and he 

had time to speak to us all. He had 

a fantastic knowledge of cattle, in 

addition to being a well-respected 

farmer he was a successful business 

man with his Gretna Green properties 

which are one of Scotland’s top tourist 

attractions. We were delighted to 

read that Alisdair had been awarded 

the Sir William Young Award by the 

Royal Highland Agricultural Society in 

Congratulations to Robbie and Rachel 

McNeill on the birth of their son Archie 

Robert McNeill born on 

19.2.2021 7.1lb. 

Robbie and Rachel would like to thank 

all members and breeders for their kind 

wishes and gifts. 

Closing date for regional reports for the 

January Journal is 20 December 2021 



South East - Martin Salmons 

Ray retires – Vexour 

Herd 

After 18 years, Ray has 

decided to retire to Scotland 

and hand over the reins at 

Vexour to the team he put 

in place over the years. It’s 

only natural for me to look 

back fondly at his years at 

Vexour and to reflect on a 

rather special period. 

It was on a wet, damp spring 

Saturday in 2003 that I 

met Ray for the first time. 

We arranged to meet at 

Vexour yard. Yard is a rich 

expression for what were a 

few dilapidated buildings and 

a muddy track. Ray arrived by 

car, disappearing almost up 

to his knees in the mud when 

he stepped out of his vehicle. 

This turned out to be the beginning of 

a rather special and very productive 

partnership. 

He bought into my ultimate vision of 

turning Vexour into a well-managed 

mixed farming enterprise operating in 

harmony with its natural habitat and 

spectacular topography. 

A few months after our first meeting, 

Ray moved into Vineyards cottage with 

wife Jacky and daughters. He didn’t 

waste a minute before starting to plan 

for a major yard clearance and land 

management approach. We decided 

to continue with the tradition of 

keeping Charolais cattle at Vexour. We 

embarked on a journey of upgrading 

the infrastructure of the land, building 

a new yard, and expanding the land 

base whenever possible. 

Ray with Vexour Garth 

Some key points on that journey were 

deciding on the optimal layout of 

buildings, building a trusted team to 

work with us on implementing our 

vision, and a focus on continuous 

improvement. 

This meant close and continuous 

communication between Ray and 

myself, which often was a challenge 

given my travel schedule. The 

evolution of technology and Ray’s early 

adaptor character for new ways of 

communication meant that no matter 

where I was, we could communicate 

via telephone, text, email, WhatsApp 

and even zoom. 

Over the years Ray and the team 

managed to have many successes 

with the quantity and quality of the 

crops we grew, improvements of the 

natural habitat through 

farming in harmony with 

the environment, charitable 

events, open days and, of 

course, show and sale 

successes with our Vexour 

cattle. 

Early successes with Vexour 

cattle at the Royal Highland 

Show (which we greatly 

miss), the Yorkshire show, our 

local Oxted and Edenbridge 

show in tandem with strong 

sales results in Stirling, 

Carlisle and Ashford, gave 

us the confidence (and joy) 

to keep investing in high 

quality pedigree lines for the 

demand coming from the 

commercial buyer. 

Our philosophy has always 

been that cattle should be 

able to look after themselves giving 

the commercial man the incentive to 

buy Charolais. For us that meant, short 

gestation, long frame, easy fleshing and 

locomotion. As Ray always reminded 

me, ‘keep it simple’. 

Ray’s handling of, and respect for, our 

livestock has always been exemplary. 

Long nights he spent keeping an 

eye on calving cows and monitoring 

performance of calves. A stick was 

never used! His passion for our 

cattle was visible during his many open 

days and tours he gave for colleges and 

universities. He even helped a group of 

Phd students with a thesis, don’t ask 

me how, but he did find time for that... 

It would not be fair not to mention 

Vexour Garth, which from the day he 

was born had something “exceptional” 

according to Ray. It didn’t take long 

for others to figure this out...... 

everything else is history. 

In conclusion, Ray has been on an 

unbelievable journey with me to shape 

Vexour to what it is today. The herd 

of Vexour Charolais is well established 

with a few other breeds as well........ 

(sorry ). 

Although Ray has physically left Vexour 

for Scotland, his spirit is still very much 

present! 

Some of Ray’s favourite heifers 

Thank you Ray. 

Martin Salmons 


60 


Wales - Eva Corbett 

Shwmae eto pawb! Hello again 

everybody. It seems like a very long 

time since we’ve all had a chance to 

catch up, but hopefully we’re well on 

our way to being vaccinated and seeing 

a safe steady return to normal. So roll 

on the vaccine roll-out and roll on the 

return of shows and sales as we know 

them. 

In the Welsh region this April, we did 

see the Spring bull sale proceeding in 

a relatively normal fashion. The presale 

show was replaced by a parade, 

which was live-streamed online with 

commentary from auctioneer Glandon 

Lewis, but it was good to see a number 

of prospective buyers attending 

nonetheless. The sale saw a steady 

trade, although perhaps not reflecting 

the spectacular trade for store and fat 

cattle we saw in the markets all spring. 

Top price of the day went to Caylers 

Peroni from Hertfordshire at 7,500gns. 

Welsh bulls peaked at 6000gns from 

Roberts and Jones, Llangadfan with 

Montgomery Prelude, a Gretnahouse 

Jupiter son. Each following on at 

4000gns came Maerdy Proplan and 

Maerdy Pathos from Esmor Evans, a 

price matched by Trannon Parker from 

JA Williams, Caersws and Hendy Pope 

from the Rees family, Llangurig. Two 

females finished the sale, both in calf 

with heifer calves at foot from Mr G 

Morris, Brecon. Cargriff Liberty and her 

calf were knocked down for 3100gns 

while stablemate Cargriff Lavender and 

calf sold for 2800gns. 

Welshpool pre-sale parade replaced the show 

Montgomery Prelude highest Welsh price of the day at 6,000gns 

On a more sombre note, one noticeable 

absence from the Welshpool sale was 

Bob Roberts of the Brynffanigl herd, 

Bob Roberts 

Abergele, who sadly passed away this 

year after a short illness. Bob was a 

familiar face at every Welsh region 

event, whether 

showing support 

by bringing his 

own bulls to sales 

and shows, or 

simply coming 

along to study 

the quality of the 

cattle and share 

in a catch up over 

a cup of tea. He 

had a smile and a 

friendly word for 

old and new faces 

alike and I know 

I speak on behalf 

of the whole 

Welsh region in 

saying he will be 

much missed. Our 

condolences go to his family. 

Once again, Covid 19 caused the 

cancellation of the highlight of the 

showing year here in Wales, the Royal 

Welsh Show, along with many smaller 

local shows, which would normally 

dominate the news in this Spring/ 

Summer. These agricultural shows give 

us all a chance, not only to show off 

the best of our hard work over the last 

year, but to reunite with friends we 

may only see once every 12 months 

and to demonstrate our support for 

British farming. I’m sure we’ll only 

appreciate them all the more when 

they return, and would urge you all 

to show your support and backing 

particularly for your local shows to 

ensure they’re able to continue. I look 

forward to seeing you all again soon. 

Until next time, hwyl am y tro. 



Yorkshire & North East - Margaret Atkinson 

The Covid 19 outbreak has changed 

so many peoples’ lives over the past 

18 months. It was fantastic to have 

the 162 nd Great Yorkshire Show take 

place. It certainly was different this 

year, with the show being extended to 

four days for the first time in its history, 

with capacity being reduced to 26,000 

visitors per day. The media coverage 

was great, with it appearing on so 

many TV programmes. HRH The Prince 

of Wales and HRH The Duchess of 

Cornwall visited on the Thursday, and 

this was the largest public gathering 

that the Royal couple had attended 

since the start of the pandemic. 

Minette Batters and Liz Truss MP 

Charlotte Hitchen, Minette Batters and 

Sophie Hitchen 

The Charolais club hit the news before 

the show even began with Lindsey 

Hitchen featured in the Yorkshire Post 

as she was getting the hospitality room 

ready for the Charolais members. 

We continued getting headline news 

as Maerdy Morwr, owned by David 

Stubbs, took the Supreme Beef title. 

He went on to win the Continental 

Pairs together with R & N Barclays’ 

Mamma Mia and calf Harestone Royal 

Highness. The Charolais cattle, on the 

last day of the show, went on to win 

the Team Event rounding off a fantastic 

show for the breed. 

The Great Yorkshire Show was finished 

off with the outgoing President, Sir 

William Worsley, officially handing 

over the presidency of the to Margaret 

Chapman for the next year. Margaret 

became the first female cattle steward 

in 1973 and she also introduced the 

Blythwood Pairs competition within 

the cattle section, now one of the most 

prestigious competitions at the show. 

Margaret, together with her partner, 

Alan Hoggarth, had the successful 

‘Manor’ herd of Pedigree Charolais for 

many years. 

Yorkshire has also been getting a great 

deal of publicity lately as, during the 

Great British Beef Week, Michael and 

Sir William Worsley and 

Margaret Chapman 

Margaret Atkinson of the ‘Mowbray 

Park’ herd hosted on their farm a 

meeting with the International Trade 

Secretary, Liz Truss MP, the NFU 

President, Minette Batters and an 

executive from the meat 

company, ABP. 

The meeting was to 

promote British Beef and 

to discuss the importance 

of exporting beef to other 

countries. Also present 

were the Atkinsons’ 

granddaughters who are 

both studying Agriculture 

at Askam Bryan College. 

Succession planning was 

also being promoted during 

the Great British Beef Week, 

as there are now fewer 

Liz Truss MP and Michael Atkinson 

next generation farmers taking over 

family farms. This meeting, along with 

the Charolais breed, were promoted 

in all the media including the Mail on 

Sunday. 

The Charolais champions at the Great Yorkshire Show 

Interbreed champions Junior female champions Pairs champions 


62 


MINUTES OF THE 59th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE 

BRITISH CHAROLAIS CATTLE SOCIETY LIMITED (Limited by guarantee) 

Held on THURSDAY, 24 June 2021 at 11.00A.M. in The Charolais Office 

Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, CV8 2RG and via zoom with 

permission from the charities commission 

Chairman: 

Mr B Harman 

The Chairman welcomed members to the 59th Annual General Meeting of the British Charolais Cattle Society Ltd. 

1. To read the Notice convening the 59th Annual General Meeting of the Society 

The Chairman called upon the Chief Executive, Mr Peter Phythian, to read the notice convening the Meeting. 

2. Apologies for absence 

Apologies were received and recorded as follows: 

Arwel Owen, Mervin and Christine Parker 

3. To approve the Minutes of the 2020 58th Annual General Meeting of the Society 

The minutes of the 58th Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 18 June 2020 were included in the September 2020 

issue of the Charolais News and circulated to the membership. 

The Chairman asked if there were any questions. 

There were no matters arising and Mr Chris Curry proposed acceptance of the minutes as a true record. Seconded by Mr 

David Connolly. 

4. To receive and consider, and if approved, adopt the Report of the Council of Management presented by the Chairman of 

Council. 

The Chairman said he will not read everything as it was there to read but took the opportunity to thank the Council for 

their work and support and time given over the last year, we are very fortunate that we have a council that have people 

who are passionate about the breed and not just their own ends but for the betterment of the breed. Sometimes we have 

disagreements about the best way forward, those disagreements are a strength not a weakness and thanked everyone for 

their time given. 

The Chairman then went on to thank the executive team for the help and support they have given me over the last year. 

The staff have once again under difficult circumstances have gone above and beyond and have been absolutely wonderful. 

The Chairman then went onto thank Rusmi for supporting him in every step and supporting over the last 2 years and is 

grateful to have him on board. The Chairman also thanked Peter for his friendship and support over the last few years. The 

Chairman went on to wish good luck to Allen in the couple of years ahead and said he was very capable and had no doubts 

that he is going to nothing less of an outstanding job. Finally the Chairman thanked his own family for helping support him 

whilst he has been aware at society functions and events. The Chairman said that this is his report and asked for a proposer 

for the report. 

Adoption of the report was proposed by Mr Ralph Needham and seconded by 

Mr Andrew Sellick 

5. To receive and consider, and if approved, adopt the Annual Statement of Accounts and Balance Sheet for the 2020 year 

and the Auditor’s Report thereon, presented by the Honorary Treasurer 

The Chairman invited the Treasurer to present the 2020 accounts. 



The Chairman went through his report: 

By any standard measure 2020 was a successful year for the BCCS with an increase in the value of the investment portfolio 

and a profit on the operational side resulting in an increase on the balance sheet. That said I find myself writing the most 

difficult treasurer’s report since taking on the role with covid and budgeting changes both having major impacts on the 

results. 

I am well aware that as a result of covid the BCCS has lost good friends and many members businesses will have suffered 

greatly, and my thoughts are with them. 

The balance sheet saw an increase of £112k to a little over £3.047m. For the first time in many years nothing was drawn 

down from the portfolio and in the financial year £50k was given to the investment fund managers to invest followed by 

£30k in March 2021. Members will recall that to develop the office space for tenants we had previously drawn down £63k 

and this has now been replaced somewhat earlier than had been anticipated. The BCCS is now at a point where it is making 

the best use of its assets in my opinion, but under the current situation it would seem likely that there will be downward 

pressure on office rentals and that with increased tax burdens in the pipeline that dividends may also come under pressure. 

The detailed statement of the financial activities shows a profit of £93k and within this is where I need to try and normalize 

the results. Members will recall both the Chairman’s and Treasurer’s reports for 2018 stated that budgetary changes were 

necessary to protect the future of the BCCS in the longer term as a result, like the pedigree sector in general, of reduced 

membership and calf registrations. Those changes are reflected for the first time in these results. Also within the results are 

the effects that covid has had on the activities of the society. My estimation is that having made allowances for small losses 

of income on one side and substantially reduced expenditure on the other side is that the overall effect has been to increase 

the profit figure by around £60k. Having excluded the effect of covid allows hopefully a more normal view to be taken of the 

results which leaves a profit of around £30k compared to a loss of £23k in 2019 with this being the first year’s results after a 

major budgetary review. 

As always, my sincere thanks must go to the staff, with large amounts of the work being done from home equipped with 

new mobile phones and laptops they were able to keep all the processes moving without interruption. The Treasurer said 

no matter how much he writes about the staff he cannot fully explain how much of a good job they do and asked Rusmi to 

extend his thanks to the staff. 

2020 Financials 

At the end of the year BCCS funds stood at £3,047,725 (2019 - £2,936,056), up by £111,669 which was mainly due to the 

stock market rebound after the initial drop due to Covid-19 and more political stability. 

The total income for 2020 decreased in the year by 2% from £680,177 to £666,591, The major contributions to the Society 

income are derived from members’ subscriptions, registration fees, transfer fees, auction sale, commissions, and investment 

income. 

Investment income 

• The dividend income from the investment portfolio decreased by 17% to £64,672 (2019 - £78,331). 

Cattle Society Income 

• Rent received from the society tenants increased to £49,630 (2019 - £47,471). 

• Registration income increased to £208,640 (2019 -£183,019). 

• Membership income decreased to £63,662 (2019 - £65,046). 

• Gift aid refund and interest decreased to £10,292 (2019 - £11,039). 

Expenditure 

Total expenditure for the year decreased to £564,808 (2019 - £692,656). 

• Staff were given a 1% pay increase in line with inflation. 

• Building repairs increased to £4,538 (2019 - £3,376). 

• Computer repairs and maintenance increased to £10,093 (2019 - £5,344). 

• The purchase of promotional goods decreased to £2,996 (2019 - £6,446). 

• Legal and professional fees decreased to £7,491 (2019 - £8,164). 


64 


We took a decision to not pay out show awards in 2020 and it just so happened there were no shows, so it did not have an 

effect. This year we are supporting the Scottish Show, Balmoral Show and Great Yorkshire Show, exhibitors will be provided 

with £50 per animal. 

SNP testing, the change over from microsatellite has been fully capitalised and will be written of over 5 years. 

The profit for the financial year was £92,712 (2019 loss - £22,702). 

The Treasurer then gave a further update on the first 5 months of this year. 

Membership down £2000 below budget a little over 3% 

Auction income has been drastically reduced this year due to a lot of online sales happening and not many cattle forward in 

the action houses. The hope is this will return in 2022, but if it does not, we will have to take action. 

Registrations of calves within the first 5 months is within 1% of last year. 

The investment portfolio was at £2.5 million at the end of last year and currently is £2.682 million which is up £182,000. 

There were no questions on the Treasurer’s report. 

Adoption of the report was proposed by Mr David Barker and seconded by Mrs Tracey Nicolls. 

At this point the Chairman thanked Graham and highlighted the fact that not many people will know the amount of time 

and work the Treasurer actual does and we would be lost without him and the effort and regular work he does with the 

office should not go overlooked and we should all thank him. 

6. Election of members to the Council of Management 

The Chief Executive reported: 

As Messrs W D Connolly (Northern Ireland), Mr R C Curry (Northern England), Mr C J Wight 

(Scotland) had served two terms of three years on Council, they were not eligible for re-election. 

Nominations for these vacancies were received from Mr D Bothwell (Northern Ireland), Mr P Stobart (Northern England), 

Mr A Clark (Scotland) which were unopposed. 

Messrs A P Drysdale (National), A E Sellick (Southern England) and B L Williams (Wales) were re-elected unopposed to 

serve for a further term of 3 years. 

Mr G C Robinson has been asked to become Honorary Treasurer for the next 12 months. 

The Chairman welcomed the new council members and thanked the outgoing council member for their contributions over 

the years. 

7. Election of President 

The Chairman started by thanking Mr Michael Atkinson for acting as president for the society for the two years. Mike has 

done everything and more that has been asked of him, he is well-known and is highly regarded throughout the UK for his 

pedigree work. His knowledge of the beef industry and his support of young breeders which has been outstanding. 

Mike thanked Ben for his kind words and said he has thoroughly enjoyed it and it has been a pleasure and honour to do 

the role. He went on to thank Peter, Rusmi and the staff for looking after us and making us feel welcome wherever we have 

been to and recommends this job to anyone. 

The Chairman then asked Mike to propose a new President. Mike said he has had a lot of time to think about it and has 

come up with the ideal candidate in Gareth Roberts from the Montgomery Herd in mid-Wales. He is always there at the 

Royal Welsh Show and the few times he has been to the Welshpool sales. Gareth seems to have always managed to top the 

market. He has a good following and to be honest Gareth will be a good Ambassador for the Charolais Society. 

The Chairman then went on to invite the new President Gareth Roberts to speak, Gareth thanked the Chairman and started 

by saying it was a great privilege and honour to be President, his late father-in-law Tom Jones was president in 1997 the 

world moves on and things continually change. Gareth started out to thank Mike and said when he took on the task the 

world was “Normal” and his first thought was we have a safe pair of hands. He then went on to say that his role is to be 

an ambassador and he will be a tough act to follow but will do his best and is hoping to meet as many people as possible, 

existing members and hopefully new members and carry on this great society to bigger and better things. 



The Chairman then thanked Mr Robinson for agreeing to be the treasurer for the next year. 

8. To appoint Auditors 

The Chairman invited the Honorary Treasurer, Mr Robinson to propose the Society auditors for the forthcoming year. 

Mr Robinson proposed Harrison Beale & Owen Ltd to continue as auditors. Seconded by David Barker. 

9. To approve the changes to the bye-laws 

The Chairman started by saying there are two main aspects, there was an update to the Zootechnical rules in 2020, we 

need to update our rules to comply with legislation we don’t have a choice on this, the effect of this is Australia and 

New Zealand are not counted as approved third countries. What this means for the membership is any new animals/ 

semen/embryos cannot be brought into our herd book until they gain approved third country status. It is import that the 

members know. 

The other important update is about progressive ataxia, this has been discussed in several meetings over the previous 

year. Progressive Ataxia (PA) is a recessive genetic condition present within the Charolais breed. Like other recessive 

conditions, it would require two heterozygous carriers they are mated with a 25% chance of their progeny being a 

homozygous carrier. The homozygous progeny will show symptoms and could start as early as 6 months or as late as 5 

years but generally 18-24 months period and involve a loss of mobility in the hind limbs, which leads to recumbency and 

euthanasia. Upon discovering PA is present in up to 30% of the herd book Charolais, the French herd book, the British 

Charolais Society agreed to take a very small sample across 5 herds from our herd book, in those 33 samples there was 

no PA present in 58% of the samples, there was 1 carrier in 42% of those samples and there were no homozygous carriers 

at all. The council resolves in March to replicate the steps of the French herd book that no carriers of progressive ataxia 

should be imported into our herd book. Bulls carrying the progressive ataxia gene will not be admitted into the semen 

royalty scheme. Thus, if a member intends to import Charolais is in incumbent upon then to ensure the progressive ataxia 

gene has been tested for. 

10. To transact any other business 

There was no other business. 

Meeting closed 11.24am closed 

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Newsletter 

Issue 141 

September 2020 

Journal 

Issue 142 

January 2021 

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Tel: +44 (0)2476 697222 

Email: charolais@charolais.co.uk

BCCS September Newsletter 2021

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