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.
