Out & About
Forth Valley & West Fife Smallholders' Association
Visit to Hilary and Bernard Barker, Mid Torrie, Sunday 16th March 2008
FV&WFSA had its first outing to Mid Torrie, near Callander, on Sunday 16th March 2008, as guests of Bernard and Hilary Barker. Eight Association members were made most welcome by our hosts, who run Barkers Highland Beef, are heavily involved in the Highland Cattle Society, the Farmer's' Market organisation as well as owning and managing the Torrie fold of Highland cattle.
The weather was very kind to us; the sun was shining, the birds were singing and all was well with the world! After a welcome and refreshments, we were introduced to some of the wonderful Highland cattle. I think most, if not all, of us were surprised (and delighted) at how docile the cattle were. Hilary spends a lot of effort halter-breaking the youngstock, making them much easier to handle when they get bigger.
We had an opportunity later to give them "sweeties" (cattle cake) - boy, did they know that word! Flora, a cream calf, was probably the most popular (and didn't she know it) although a wee ginger one (Hunny Bunny!!) gave her a run for her money.
Bernard outlined the rationale behind the planning of the livestock shed and he and Hilary, with some bovine support from Ailsa, a 19 year old cow, and a young bull, demonstrated how the pens and the cattle race worked in practice.
Carol helped Bernard feed the youngstock before we headed uphill to see one of the stock bulls. Andrew and Rosemary took up the invitation to groom the bull and his companion cow - neither of them is planning a career in hairdressing, though.
We rounded off the day with a question and answer session, sitting in the sun, munching some delicious Highland steak pies and Scotch pies. This gave us a chance to reflect on the visit and discuss some of the issues that had arisen, particularly around food production for sale.
We all agreed that it had been an excellent day out, with excellent hosts. Now we're looking forward to the next one.
Membership form
You can download a membership form below, in either Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format. If you'd prefer to be sent a form please contact the membership secretary with your name and address.