Horse Racing in Fewston !!!

Saturday night saw the locals gathering in Fewston Hall for a night of Horse Racing.
Kevin Wilson was MC for the evening. 6 races were to be run each race with 6 horses. The horses were all auctioned off by local auctioneer Ian Smith from Wharfedale Farmers Auction Mart before the race and then you could place your bets. £1 a go !!!
Denise and I were asked to spin the wheels for one race, its a simple game, whatever colour the wheel stops at and whatever number, that horse on the table moves forward. There were a couple of 'move back 3 spaces' on the board and I think everyone landed on them at some point. Chris had a couple of winners, I had one winner and received the princely sum of £2.50 !! I'll spend it wisely!!
At the half way point a Pie and pea supper was served and at the end of the evening its fair to say it was a fun evening and a great way of raising funds for the village Hall.
All in all about £900 was raised towards the hall refurbishments. I think its a night which may be repeated next year!!

International Wool Textile Organisation Visit

Last week we had the pleasure of hosting a farm visit for a delegation of members of the International Wool Textile Organisation, the China Wool Textile Association and the Australian Wool Testing Authority.
They were all in the UK to attend a conference in London and had then travelled north to visit the Wool Warehouses in Bradford to learn more about what happens to wool once it leaves our farms. Then they came here to see where to raw product begins.
We talked about what we do on the farm ehre with the sheep, the different breeds and the 'farming year.
We got Jill to do a sheepdog demo and then we went up the land to meet the cows and then onto the moor to show where some of the sheep live.
When they left us I was presented with an absolutely beautiful chinese silk scarf, a prcelain memory stick decorated in chinese writing and a '100 mile rug'. The rug is made from wool which has grown and been processed in North Yorkshire which means it has traveled only 100 miles in its life. Its beautiful!!
The delegates (top picture R to L) are Ms.PENG Yanli- President China Wool Textile Association, John Lambert- Consultant to International Wool Textile Organisation, Mr. Robert Wang – China Project Manager- Australian Wool Testing Authority, Chris Ryder, Elisabath van Delden – Secretary General International Wool Textile Organisation, Priyanka Kapoor- Marketing- International Wool Textile Organisation, Ms.SHUQIN Zhang – Assistant to President China Wool Textile Association

Farm Stay AGM and Bradley Burn Farm Shop!!

After our big night out on Monday it was soon 6am and I was up and off to the Farm Stay UK AGM which this year was held at Slaley Hall near Hexham in Northumberland. Unfortunately Ive not been to the last couple of AGM's so it was a great chance to catch up with the many friends I made around the UK during my time on the Farm Stay Board of Directors. We had a lot of laughs, an awful lot of food and I wouldnt have missed it for anything.
After a fab breakfast yesterday morning I set off for home. I headed over the moors into Weardale and went along to Wolsingham to visit Bradley Burn Farm Shop. This is the brainchild of the Stephenson family and is run by Christopher and his wife Jill. Christophers Mum Judith was on the Board of FS UK with me and we sat in their wonderful restaurant ,within the shop, and talked for ages. We started off with coffee but were still talking at lunchtime so we had really tasty homemade soup and the most delicious cheese scones Ive ever had!!
If you ever find yourself in Weardale go and have a look in the shop. Its packed with local and regional food and theres a big map on the wall with pins in denoting each of their suppliers locations. They even had Mackenzies of Blubberhouses Bacon!!

Deliciously Yorkshire Awards

On the 14th November Chris and I, with our friends Richard and Denise, went along to Rudding Park Hotel to the Deliciously Yorkshire Awards.
DY are the regional food group responsible for promoting Yorkshire Food.
The dinner was a feast of delights all sourced from the shortlisted finalists. We started with Champagne and canapes of Moss Valley smoked pork, Ramans Kitchen beetroot relish on Shepherds Purse Cheese, Yorkshire Crisps and Blacker Hall Pork Fettle and Basil Sausages. Yum!
We sat down to a dinner of 'Whitby Seafish' smoked salmon served with 'WS Bentleys' Micro salad and 'Yorskhire Organic Millers' spelt bread.
The main course was Roast 'Swillinton Organic' Chicken with 'Monks Folly' Potatoes and 'Parkers Veg' root vegetables.
The trio of desserts were 'Birchfield Dairies' Rice Pudding with Mercers Strawberry Conserve, Yorvale Lemon Meringue Icecream and 'Burtree Puddings' Golden Syrup Pudding.
Those who had any room left then enjoyed a trio of Shepherds Purse Cheeses. I had to pass at this stage as I had seen on the menu the coffee still to come with 'Sciolti' Chocolates and 'Miniature Bakers' wonderful Chocolate crisps and Snaps.
After the dinner Nigel Barden of Radio 2 and Nick Stafford of Hambleton Ales began the presentation of the awards.
Chris and I were shortlisted in the category 'Best Yorkshire Breakfast' and were absolutely chuffed to be announced as the winners!!! We had to go up on to the stage for the award and all I could think was' please dont trip, please dont trip!!' We were presented with our award by Nigel Pulling, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Agricultural Society who were the sponsors of our category.
So now we have a lovely plaque to put on display and great memories of an amazing evening!
(and in case you are wondering I didnt trip!!!)

Sheep scanning already!!

It doesnt seem like 5 minutes since we were scanning sheep last winter in the snow and the freezing cold. I usually do this job with at least 2 jumpers on, plus a vest, tights, ski socks jeans overall, coat and gloves its a wonder I can move really!!! Yesterday couldnt have been more different. It was a gloriously sunny warm autumnal day as John Barnes scanned the first 130 ewes.
These Mule ewes , and a few Blue Faced Leicesters, are due in the first couple of weeks of February (Chris decided it would be a good idea to have some early lambs!!!)
The scan went well and with 70 having twins and thirty odd having triplets it looks like it could be a busy week or so!
The local cows must have thought they were missing something as they all had to come and watch over the wall. So nosey!!