New chairman elected – Jonathan Pye takes the wheel as chairman after the club’s annual dinner on March 13, 2024. He succeeds William Sands, who opened the 182nd annual meeting at Wroxham Barns on Wednesday, February 7. A new membership secretary Jo Willetts was appointed. There were 30 members and guests present and 19 members attended the supper beforehand. After the formal business, club member and veterinary surgeon Tom Hume gave a fascinating insight into his three-year training programme to swim the Channel Last September. A total of 76 solo swimmers crossed last year – and he joins the elite club of 1,903 who have completed the 21-mile swim since 1875. Meeting report - See minutes and reports on the left Entry added: 08 Feb 2024 |
A change of speaker – Tom Hume will speak about his cross-Channel swim, which helped to raise £50,000 for Holt Youth Project. A clash of dates has prevented the original speaker from attending our meeting.
Veterinary surgeon Tom, of the Westover large animal practice, who was injured playing rugby for Holt RFC, set himself a challenge – so, he decided to swim the Channel last September. A trustee of Holt Youth Project, he will brief members on the extraordinary achievements since it was started some 35 years ago.
Wednesday, February 7 – Wroxham Barns NR12 8QU. Supper £20 per head, including welcome drink. Please book in advance to Michael Pollitt by Monday, February 5, noon. The two-course meal – Beef Bourginion with vegetables and dessert.
Meet from 6pm, meal served at 6.30pm. The meeting starts at 7.30pm. Contact Michael Pollitt – on michaelbpollitt@btinternet.com or telephone 01603 486997 for more details. All bookings will be acknowledged. If you don’t hear from me, it is likely your email has not arrived. Entry added: 23 Jan 2024 |
Welcome to new members and YFC guests - A warm welcome to new member Sam Mitchell at the 2024 opening meeting at Wroxham Barns.North Walsham YFC members joined the vice-chairman Jonathan Pye and speaker Henry Lamb as 27 enjoyed a tasty meal, prepared by Jack Stuttle and his team. A fascinating briefing on the rapid spread of avian flu in the past three years was presented by the Young Farm Vet of the Year Mr Lamb, who is based at Attleborough. Fortunately, there have been five confirmed cases in Britain since October but the poultry sector must maintain the highest standards of biosecurity especially as the mid to late February wild bird migration could be a threat. He was thanked by Polly Papworth and Alison Saunders, of North Walsham YFC. Full report – see Minutes and Reports 2024. Entry added: 12 Jan 2024 |
What a fantastic achievement. Stalham member and veterinary surgeon Tom Hume swam the channel. With fellow swimmer, Ed Sargent, also from Thurning, they raised £50,000 for the Holt Youth Project. Tom, of Westover’s large animal practice, who is a trustee of the project, applied to do the swim in June 2020 . After two years of training and qualifying, he was given a date for July but poor weather forced a delay until September 11. So, it was third time lucky as he stepped ashore in France after swimming 23 miles in 16 hours and 49 minutes.
Entry added: 12 Jan 2024 |
A great supporter of the Clan Trust, Mid-Norfolk farmer Mike Garrod, has died aged 91 at his home in France. He was a trustee/ director of charity established by Rob Alston for many years until retiring in 1996. Full obituary – see past club members on the left. Entry added: 09 Jan 2024 |
Poultry authority - Award-winning Young Vet of the Year Henry Lamb will be speaking to members at Wroxham Barns on Wednesday, January 10, from 7.30pm. Having advised governments in the Rwanda, India and clients in the United States on avian flu, he is a widely respected authority. Based at Attleborough, he is also well-known to Norfolk poultry producers and will be outlining his thoughts on a future for the industry. Members and guests welcome. Entry added: 09 Jan 2024 |
Wet, wet, wet - It was the wettest year for more than half a century in east Norfolk. More than a metre of rainfall was recorded at Stalham, by farmer Alistair Wright, who logged a total of 1047.4mm or 41.26 inches last year. It followed the wettest October since 1974 when 270mm (10.6ins) was recorded. Records have been kept at Church Farm since 1971 when his late father, Nigel, became an official rainfall recorder. The previous wettest year in the past 52 years was 1987 with a total of 920.24mm, then 886.31mm in 1993 and 878.1mm in 2001. The average rainfall over the last 32 years has averaged 696.24mm. Entry added: 02 Jan 2024 |
Rural mental health support charity YANA is going "live" with telephone access from the New Year. And a social, Yarn in a Barn, free to farmers, will be held at the Norfolk showground on Friday, January 19, 7pm. To book - admin@yanahelp.org
For further details - see Minutes and reports.
Entry added: 18 Dec 2023 |
Welcome to two new members - Farmer Andrew Hill from the centre of Norfolk at Horningtoft, who was proposed by his son James, and Finn Will, of North Walsham Young Farmers' Club and of Stalham-based Nicholsons/ Stalham Engineering at the last meeting of the year. A total of 22 members including guest speaker Anna Hill, of BBC Radio's Farming Today programme, joined the chairman for a tasty supper at Wroxham Barns. Then Anna, who started in BBC local radio at Southampton in 1985, and became part of the team producing and presenting the weekday programme, Farming Today, in 1994, talked about her career and some of the highlights. The programme, which reaches one million listeners, now attracts an increasingly younger audience. Full report - under the minutes and reports tab on the left. Entry added: 11 Dec 2023 |
Whopping beet lifted - Sugar beet judge Sam Summers lifted a whopper in the club's annual best two-acre competition. With secretary Michael Pollitt, they inspected several hundreds acres of beet crops and also took samples for the two-acre competition. It was only thanks to the staff on the chairman's farm that your secretary managed to re-join the judge, who was waiting patiently at Alan and Geoffrey Beck's Brunstead Hall, for his guide. As Will Sands was away, they brought the farm's Landrover down the track and pulled the secretary's car clear of a heap of poultry manure.
Later that afternoon, when they finally arrived at John Tallowin's Willow Farm, Hickling, after lengthy "road closed" diversions from Waxham via Sutton, the sample of beet was knocked and topped. But the third root was out of the ordinary - it measured 41cm from crown to tip. The results of both competitions will be announced at the club's annual dinner in March. A picure of the "beat that" Beet can be found in the gallery on the left.
Entry added: 02 Dec 2023 |