Crowgey Herd Visit 23rd August 2009
Kevin and Tanya Thomas, together with their children, welcomed the Cornwall Simmental Club members to visit the “Crowgey” herd on Sunday 23rd August.
Fortunately the Cornish mizzle abated by the 4 p.m. start and we spent a very pleasant couple of hours walking through lush green pastures and appreciating the beautifully presented cattle.
Kevin provided us with a short resume of the herd’s history since being established in 2006 with female foundation stock purchased from the Bargus herd (Charlie & Jenny Harris Perranwell Station) and a stock bull Chegwidden Mika ( Jeff & Viv Hall St Levan). Five Wroxall ( CH Evans & Son - Warwick) heifers were added the following year and the present stock bull Twyford Toastmaster (M/S A & PA Hurn – Norwich) purchased early in 2008.
Young home bred bulls from the herd had been shown successfully in 2007 and 2008 and their senior cow Bargus Jamaica Belle by Salisbury Challenger lifted 3rd prize at the Royal Cornwall ( 2009 National Simmental Show) headed by two of the top show cows in the country. Jamaica Belle, now 11 years old, with an April heifer calf at foot (Accolade) was looking a picture and is in-calf to Sterling Flint.
Kevin spoke of his ambition to produce big, strong cattle to compete against the top herds in the show ring. With this aim in mind he had purchased Toastmaster to add height and length to the herd. The first crop of Toastmaster’s calves seem to be following the plan and with the addition of offspring by Sterling Flint and Omorga Prince due in 2010 the Crowgey herd should be a force to be reckoned with in the future.
As the evening beckoned the club members were well fed with excellent Cornish Pasties followed by scones and clotted cream. Shakira , aged 8, made the most of an entrepreneurial opportunity to sell home produced tomatoes and runner beans while Lewis, aged 11, had organised the car parking admirably.
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