South West of England Aberdeen Angus Club Newsletter January 2008. Let me start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year, by now I hope you have recovered from the festive season and are ready for what 2008 has in store for the agricultural community! Firstly, I must apologise for my lack of organisation in the last few months of 2007, our Autumn committee meeting was cancelled as it was felt to be unwise with the foot and mouth situation, this has lead to matters not being discussed or advertised properly! Which leads me onto our Mouse Racing evening, which unless you looked on the website, might come as a surprise!! It is on 18th January at Fingle Glen Golf Club, Tedburn St Mary, Exeter. Start time is 7.30pm, there is a bar and a buffet, tickets are £8 and must be booked from me (Gayle on 01503 240478) Last year we raised £1000 for the Devon Air Ambulance and it was really good fun as well. Everyone is welcome, so bring along your friends and family for this very enjoyable night. 2007 already seems like a distant memory, but before we reconcile it to the history files, we must congratulate Edward and Claire Jones of Cullompton who managed to keep up their winning ways. Their bull Rull Baron F057 winning Champion at Carlisle and realising top price and their Royal Show winning bull Rull Evitus F052 taking the Senior Championship at Perth. We are waiting to see what surprises will be in their show team for 2008. Our Chairman, Colin Hutchings is trying to get together people that might be interested in taking the ‘Welfare of Animals in Transit’ test, in the Devon and Somerset area. He has provisionally booked the date for 16th March, but he does need to get enough names forward to make it worthwhile. If you are interested, Colin can be contacted on 01398 371100 asap. It will be interesting to see if Colin passes as I hear on the grapevine of an incident where his lorry demolished a gate post, gate and letter box whilst he was delivering a bull!! Members of the Society maybe aware that the Society’s AGM is coming up in February. Paul Jeenes has been a great Council member representing the South in the last three years but he has to step down this Feb as his term is done, (although I do not think his Society tasks will end there!) I feel that it is advantageous to have a South West representative on Council and that is why I have proposed Cornish Breeder Mark Pilcher for the job. Mark is a familiar sight at our Cornish events and I hope you can show him some support. Remember, I have the cattle for sale list that I send out to all inquiries, give out on our show stands and it also appears on the Club website so if you have cattle for sale please let me know. Our first show stand will be at the South West Dairy event at Bath & West Showground on 30th January, any help would be appreciated. By the time you read this letter the Committee will be putting together the events diary for 2008, which I will let you know all the details in due course. We had lots of good ideas from the questionnaires  Members filled out last year so there should be something for everyone! Don’t forget the Mouse Racing!! As this is the first newsletter of the year it is sent to all Society Members, if you wish to join our club in 2008, please fill out the enclosed form and send it back to the address on it. Secretary: Gayle Bersey, 01503 240478 Chairman: Colin Hutchings, 01398 371100 gayle@bersey.fslife.co.uk www.aberdeenangus-swenglandclub.co.uk

South West of England Aberdeen Angus Club Newsletter Spring 2008 Secretary: Gayle Bersey 01503240478     Chairman: Colin Hutchings 01398371100 gayle@bersey.fslife.co.uk Let me start this newsletter by congratulating the West Country on some stirling performances at National level. In February I was lucky enough to go to the Perth bull sales in Scotland, whilst there I attended the Society AGM. Colin and I had persuaded Cornish breeder, Mark Pilcher to stand for Council and with the support of the West Country members and of course his own merits, Mark was elected on to Council. Also at the AGM, retiring Council Member Paul Jeenes was elected as Junior Vice President, a position that has never been held by a West Country member before. So well done to both Mark and Paul who I’m sure will be great assets to the Aberdeen Angus Society and it’s brilliant for the West Country to have a voice in important matters. Perth is also where the  final of the Youth Development Programme is held. For the first time young people from our area attended and whilst they did not win they should be very proud of their achievements. Emma Smith, Thea Woollatt and Jessica Denning had to complete a course in animal husbandry, gain some showing experience, complete some written work and then at Perth, show a senior bull which they had never seen before. All 3 enjoyed the experience and if any person under the age of 26 would be interested in the Youth Development Programme, they should contact the Society. And last but by no means least was the fact that the Warren Trophy (Home Bred animal gaining most point at shows in England and Wales) came to the Devon, the third time in a row that it has come to the West Country, this time to Edward and Claire Jones at Cullompton. Well I guess that’s enough of me blowing the trumpet for the West Country, onto the forthcoming events of 2008. First off is the AGM (minutes are enclosed for the last one), this will be held on Wednesday 2nd April at 7.30pm, North Curry PAVILION, Taunton. (opposite end of the playing field to the hall) As usual, please let me know before the event if you wish to stand for the  committee or any other position. The AGM does not take very long to complete and afterwards we have the Society’s new promotional DVD to show, I saw it at Perth and I think it is very good, afterwards Mark Pilcher and Paul Jeenes will say a few words and you will have the chance to put any questions to them. This will be followed by a shared supper so please bring a plate of food. It is a great chance to meet and chat to fellow breeders so please come along. As usual, the Club will have promotional stands at Devon County, Bath & West and Royal Cornwall. Any help that anyone could give would be gratefully received especially if you could spare some time to man the stand, even an hour would give someone a break! Also I will need some cattle to put on the list of ‘cattle for sale’ that will be handed out to anyone inquiring, so please let me know if you have anything to sell. Whilst on the subject of showing, on the website is a list of local one day shows that have Angus classes, numbers have been down a little of late and it would be great to support these smaller shows so we don’t loose our classes. For the Herd Visit this year we have organised to go to the ‘DARK LANE’ herd of Norman & Brenda Pittams in Brecon, Wales. The Pittams have had great success with their cattle over the years and it’s a great opportunity to see how they’ve done it! This visit will be on Sunday 27th July at 11am. A coach will be organised, details nearer the time. Another date for the dairy, Bristol Sale: 1st May, entry forms from H & H on 01228590490. We hope to have a visit to a Butcher sometime in 2008 and a Dinner/Lunch in the Autumn. We will also have a stand at the NBA Beef Event at Hatherleigh in September. The Club competition this year is a Herd Competition, it will be judged in September by Ian Anderson, an excellent stockman and judge from Scotland. Nearly forgot about the Mouse Racing that was held in January. Mark Brommell from Kivells acted as Auctioneer and even though there wasn’t that many people there we still managed to raise £300 for the Devon Air Ambulance and have an awful lot of fun! Don’t forget that all information and more can be found on the website: aberdeenangus-swenglandclub.co.uk. I have recently put an invisible counter on the site and have been really pleased with the outcome, in the last 6 days 51 visitors have been to the site, so if you have cattle for sale or your own website you would like to promote, it is well worth letting me know!

SOUTH WEST of ENGLAND ABERDEEN ANGUS CLUB Newsletter, Summer 2008. Summer is well underway and despite the dark cloud of Blue Tongue hanging over our heads, the South West has managed to get two shows under it’s belt. First off the mark was North Somerset where the Angus classes were well supported. It was good to see Jessica Denning showing her own cattle for the first time and we hope she has caught the showing bug now! Devon County was the first of the big shows in our area, sadly the entry was a little disappointing for a County event. Thanks must go to Colin Hutchings and The Fowlescombe Team of Richard and Barbara Barker, aided by John & Jeanette Hart who made the judges trip from Scotland worthwhile. Colin clinched the top honours at both shows which was well deserved as his team has come out looking as strong as ever. The stand seemed reasonably busy with females in more demand than last year. With Bath & West and Royal Cornwall coming up I would appreciate some more cattle for my ‘list’, likewise could you let me know if you have sold any of the cattle I have advertised for you so I can give buyers up to date information. If you have anything for sale ie bulls, heifers, cows & calves, steers etc, please let me know on 01503 240478 so I can update my records. Bath & West is 28th - 31st May, if you are at the show why not pop into the stand for a cup of tea. Royal Cornwall is 5th - 7th June, sadly we do not have the President visiting us this year but we do have the Junior Vice President and a Council Member joining us. After the success of last year, we have decided to have a ‘Reception’, actually that’s probably a bit of a grand word for it but there will be ‘Cornish Hospitality’ on offer and a chance to meet and chat to our Council Members. This will be on Friday 6th June at our stand at 12.30pm. Please come along and join in the fun, everyone welcome. This year’s Herd Visit is to the Dark Lane Herd of Brenda & Norman Pittams in Brecon, Wales. This will be on Sunday 27th July at 11am. I have booked a coach from Exeter and it will pick up at various places en route, the coach only fits 25 so it is on a first come, first served basis, and will cost £10 per person. Please advise me on 01503 240478 if you wish to go, I will need numbers of all persons attending for catering purposes. In the last newsletter I said the Club was trying to organise a trip to a Butchers. Messrs Stillmans of Taunton have kindly agreed to have a visit to their cutting plant and a provisional date of the 27th September has been set. More details to follow but pencil it in your diary! A date I can confirm is the Lunch, this will be held on the 26th October at The Tiverton Hotel. Again more details to follow but you can write that in your diary with pen! If you look at the Club website regularly  you will have noticed two event changes. Firstly is the Bristol Sale that had been moved to 31st May has now cancelled due to Blue Tongue restrictions. Also you may have noted that the Southern Club’s calf show has been taken off. The Society have decided to have a large calf show at The Royal Smithfield Winter Fair. This decision was taken without any consultation with the South West Club and I do not know any details. I am not sure whether they will make use of any of our previous sponsors or cups as they are not making use of our already organised judge! But it does appear on the Society’s website that the Southern Club’s Calf Show will be held at Smithfield. Enclosed with this letter is an entry form for the Herd Competition, this will be judged by Ian Anderson from Ayrshire in Scotland. His flight has been booked for the 22nd September and as I’m sure you will understand that it will have to be planned with miltary precision!! The entries close on 15th July to allow us to organise everything. Final note, I have been asked to remind you about the South East tour in September, more details from Mike Spooner on 01491 628637, booking forms available now. Secretary: Gayle Bersey 01503 240478                                   Chairman: Bob Quantrill 01934 732882gayle@bersey.fslife.co.uk