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24/7 looking after animals, but Nigel has
promised me a holiday eventually.”
Although spring is clearly a key time at the
farm, it doesn’t mean that they get off lightly
the rest of the year.
Shearing takes place towards the end of
May, when Nigel will shear all of the sheep
himself. They then spend another four
weeks lambing the majority of the pedigree
ewes in September, before it’s the turn of
the Hampshire Downs in December.
“I haven’t stopped since December
really,” Nigel explains. “I was at the farm
on Christmas Day as we had two sheep
lambing then.
“The animals must always come first, so it
is all-consuming.”
“Showing and exhibiting at agricultural
shows is my passion and that is very
hands-on. I travel all around the country
showing and judging.”
“If you have good quality animals and you
can get results and prizes at an agricultural
show then it can help when you are selling
them, but it isn’t as important as it used to
be.”
Nigel’s love of agricultural shows has led
him to take on the role of chairman of the
Livestock Committee at the Royal County of
Berkshire Show.
“We start arranging next year’s show
straight away,” he explains.
“It takes up a good three weeks of my
time in September and there are always
meetings throughout the year with different
sections, as I oversee seven sections.”
His first taste of the show in Newbury was
in 1978 and he has exhibited at every one
since; even leaving Karen at home with a
week-old baby and two toddlers one year.
Once they were old enough, his daughters
joined him at the Newbury show and now
Sophie and Zoe both exhibit their own
animals there.
“Things have changed over the years at the
show,” he says.
“We’ve had lows such as Foot and Mouth,
and breeds have actually changed too.
Different breeds have come in and some
have been introduced from Europe.
“It’s now about adapting to produce lamb
for the mass market. That is the biggest
change I have seen recently. Breeds
themselves have had to actually adapt to
do that.”
Although ultimately the job of the farmer
is to prepare his lambs for market, Nigel
admits that the family have had pet lambs
over the years and every one has a name.
His daughters have always helped bottle
feed the lambs too, but they would all
eventually go back to the flock, evoking
a barrage of questions as to where their
cuddly pets had gone.
“That’s the reality at the end of the day
though,” he adds. “We cannot get attached
to them because they all go, even if it is four
or five years down the line.
“You do have your favourites and there is
always the anticipation that the next lamb
could be an award-winner.
“It is a tiring and hard job but there is a
Lambing season is a 24/7 job for Nigel
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