We had a most enjoyable Open day at Larghill, Crocketford, Dumfries last Sunday by kind permission of Ian,Debbie and Alasdair Marshall. What a tremendous amount of work had been put into this, the planning, the shed decorating, the game for the kids and it all took off on Sunday, even the weather couldn’t have been better.
After a cuppa and lovely home baking, the event started with Ian welcoming us and giving a bit of history about Larghill and then we had the stock judging with Caroline Montgomery placing the pen of four Belted Galloway heifers, a difficult task as they were very even. The pen had been set up well so we could all see them easily. We then moved on to judge sheep, a pen of cheviot ewes were moved into a well constructed ring and Judith Cowie expertly placed them, this was followed by cheviot gimmers,mule gimmers and texel x cheviot prime lambs. As ever with stock judging this produces lots of chat. After that we had to guess the weight of two ewes,two gimmers and three lambs before going to the shed to enjoy a hog roast.
Having been well fed we headed out onto three tractors and trailers to go and view the Belties and other cattle. The Belties weren’t sure they wanted to know this onslaught but they soon settled and Alasdair ably supported by his Dad, Ian told us all about them, and that was most enjoyable and informative. We also went round the Shorthorns and learnt about them before heading up the steep Larghill where we could see forever, right across to the Solway and Cumbria, the Dalswinton wind turbines, Castle Douglas and beyond. It was a truly wonderful day for it.
We returned to the steading for some well needed drinks and the prize giving, a great day out was had by all.
Results :-
Gents
1st Iain Johnston
2nd Adam Lawson
3rd Chris Stead
Ladies
1st Zan Kirk
2nd Isabel Milroy
3rd Emma Kirk
Under 26
1st Struan Lawson
2nd Orlaith Lawson
3rd Lloyd Ross
Guess the Weight: George Milroy who guessed it spot on!
