Gammage Hall Farm in Dymock, Gloucestershire is run by Paul Westaway and family and is home to the Melview herd of Aberdeen-Angus. They are regular hosts of our YDP workshops, one of which 12-year-old Lois Taylor attended recently. Read about Lois’ background and her take on the workshop below:

My day with the Aberdeen-Angus YDP

‘’My name is Lois Taylor and I am 12 years old. I live in Chipping in Campden and with the help of my Auntie, Uncle and Grandad I keep a very small her of Dexters, the Ashlo herd. I am used to handling and showing my Dexter cattle, but Aberdeen-Angus are obviously a lot bigger! I have been to 2 YDP days before, both of them with the Melview Herd at Gammage Hall Farm in Dymock, Gloucestershire.

I had an amazing time at the YDP day. I learnt how to do new things like clipping and blow drying and also practice some things I do more regularly like washing and how to tie up a halter. We also practiced our stock judging and Paul Westaway talked us through the best way to talk to the judges and how to be more confident in our cattle choices. At the end of the day we did a practice showing class where I had a small heifer to lead round the pen.  

I found it very fun and enjoyable and I also made loads of new friends. I am definitely coming back next year as it is loads of fun and I love to learn and practice new skills. I would love to improve my stock judging as I can find it quite scary because I get very nervous, but I found that YPD has helped me get over it a bit. I also love the washing and turn out, even though I have cows as my own. They need so much more work than other cows as they need to be clipped and blow dried, so it seems like more fun. Also, I wasn’t very good at tying up a halter, but I tried my best and it worked!  I also loved the clipping because I have never really clipped a cow before, as we have to show our Dexters in their natural coat, so it was only my second or third time clipping an Aberdeen-Angus.   

I had loads of fun during the day and I would encourage others to come along to the YDP workshops as it is loads of fun and you make new friends who all love their cows.

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make the day such fun and also to the Westaways for being kind enough to host the day. I am now really looking forward to the finals which I have qualified for.’’

By Lois Taylor

A huge thank you to Lois for the report and an equally huge well done for combatting some nerves head on and getting right involved in the workshop!

Images from the workshop are shown below: