Summer2014

SUMMER JOURNAL 2014 • ISSUE 250

www.thefarmersclub.com

Farmers Club INSIDE Meat marketing p4 Herdwick sheep p6 Charitable Trust p8 Balanced diets p10 Ladies in Agriculture p16 4000 year farm p19

INSERTS Annual Report & Accounts Committee Nominations Summer show receptions Beethoven’s Ninth Statoil Tennis

Club dining New chef serves up a treat for members p12

Farmers Club Over 160 years of service to farming 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL Patron – Her Majesty The Queen

FRONT COVER New chef Paul Hogben has brought a fresh impetus to the Club’s kitchen. Revised menus are already winning favour with members.

Contents

Disclaimer: The articles published in The Farmers Club Journal do not necessarily reflect the views of The Farmers Club. No responsibility for the quality of goods or services advertised in the magazine can be accepted by the publisher. Advertisements are included in good faith’. All rights reserved.

4

3

Chairman’s Comments Economy looks to be on the turn

4

Scottish meat marketing Protected Geographical status is a boon for any food product.

But QMS does much more besides, as Jim McLaren explains

7

Herdwick sheep Science is revealing the true value of native sheep breeds

8

10

Educating the educators With over £500,000 already invested the Farmers Club Charitable Trust is doing still more to support college lecturers

10 Balanced diets A rising tide of comments against meat eating prompted the AHDB to put the case for a balanced diet to the House of Lords

12 Fresh chef

10 13 12

A remit to make the most of great British food spells exciting times ahead for Paul Hogben – good news for members indeed

14 Communication issues How a new website, e-news, Twitter and Facebook are crucial ingredients for the success of your Club

15 St George’s Day Former 617 ‘dambuster’ squadron airman Johnny Johnson addressed 160-plus members at Butchers Hall in London

16 Farming figures New NFU president Meurig Raymond quantified

17 Turner at sea A fine Club outing – oversubscribed three times over!

14 15

18 Under 30s Under 30s chairman reports on recent events

19 4000 year farm Soulton Hall in Shropshire traces its 4,000 year farming history

20 Club News and Calendar Changes continue apace at the Club

22 Club Information and Contacts

02 • The Farmers Club Summer Journal 2014

Chairman’s Comments • Jimmy McLean

influenced by it – not least by its effect on interest and exchange rates.

Inflation inside target Consumer Prices Index inflation has dipped below target and the economists I work with believe this is likely to be more than a short-term spurt. As a result, they are still suggesting that interest rates are unlikely to rise until early 2016. However, markets are pricing the first hike for early 2015. Despite the debate about when the first move is likely to take place, there is consensus that the rate of increase is likely to be relatively slow. It is possible that base rates may only increase to 2-3% in five years.

The outlook for exchange rates is also pretty sanguine. The pound is forecast to strengthen against the euro over the coming year, reaching 80p, in early 2015, but remaining relatively flat thereafter.

Chairman’s Comments “There is consensus that interest rates are likely to increase relatively slowly. It is possible that base rates may only increase to 2-3% in five years.”

Committee Nominations Your Club needs you!

Please give thought to nominating members for a place on your Club Committee. A nomination form is enclosed with this issue.

SPRING has naturally rolled into summer and it got me thinking how we take certain changes in our stride, while we can struggle with others. I guess it is partly due to the degree of uncertainty a change will bring and whether we can influence the change or not.

The changing seasons are predictable and in many ways we look forward to them and the effect they have on our farming lives. Although we can never predict how each season will turn out, we have learned to live with that degree of uncertainty and plan for it.

Things are also going well in the Club, with our new chef’s revised dining room menu being well received by members. After a licensing delay, the work on the ‘eighth floor’ is now progressing well too.

Events attracting interest Club events continue to be well supported by members, which is always an encouragement to the events team. Ahead of the latest meeting, the Club committee was given a valuable insight into the challenges and opportunities facing the red meat sector, by Jim McLaren, Chairman of Quality Meat Scotland (report on page 4).

Returning to the theme of change, our Club AGM in July will result in changes to our committee. If you are aware of enthusiastic members who would like to serve in this capacity, then please do encourage them to stand for election – especially the more youthful!

Jimmy McLean

There is an inevitability about change – in fact some refer to change as being the only constant in life. It is, therefore, important that we engage with the process of change if we want to influence the outcome. Otherwise, change will be something that simply happens to us and that itself can create more anxiety and uncertainty.

Some changes are very welcome. After six difficult years, the UK economy appears to be recovering, with even the International Monetary Fund revising its forecast for UK growth upwards. However, there are still legitimate questions about the sustainability of the recovery. Real wage growth has been negative for much of the past six years; exports remain weak; and recovery is yet to reach all parts of the UK. The performance of the agricultural economy does not always follow the same trend, but it is

250th Journal Issue 250 issues and going strong! Since first being published in 1881 The Farmers Club Journal has spanned 133 years of dramatic changes in farming. In this issue we consider new moves to complement it through a major website revamp (see page 14).

www.thefarmersclub.com • 03

Charles Abel • Meat marketing

QMS

Scotch Beef – a highly respected consumer brand.

Red meat promotion is booming in Scotland. Charles Abel reports the views of Jim McLaren, chairman of Quality Meat Scotland RED meat levy-funded organisations in the UK have more to unite them than to divide them, said Jim McLaren, chairman of Quality Meat Scotland, when he addressed the Farmers Club Committee earlier this year.

But several features marked Scotland’s QMS apart. On the plus side was the hugely successful branding and promotion of Scotch Beef and Lamb, plus new work on the automated detection of meat eating quality. But destocking, land abandonment and uncertainty surrounding the outcomes of both the CAP reform process and the independence referendum were significant concerns.

Securing Protected Geographic Indication status from the European Union for Scotch Beef and Lamb had been extremely successful, allowing levy funds to be spent on their promotion, something that is impossible for non-PGI products.

“PGI status is what protects great food products like Champagne and Parma Ham, and it’s very hard to achieve,” noted Mr McLaren, a former president of the National Farmers Union of Scotland, who

04 • The Farmers Club Summer Journal 2014

farms spring barley and pedigree Simmental beef cattle near Crieff. “I take my hat off to West Country Beef which recently secured that status too.”

Significantly, PGI status is not about the breed of animal, although suckler beef dominates in Scotland, but is more about the regime in which the animals are raised. Animals must be born, raised and slaughtered within Scotland, so Scotch Beef and Lamb can’t spend ‘even a brief holiday outside Scotland’, as Mr McLaren put it.

QMS, which also oversees the Specially Selected Pork brand, runs six schemes to assure provenance, traceability and quality, setting standards for beef, lamb and pig production, haulage, feed manufacturing, marts and slaughterhouses. That depth of assurance is set to reap dividends in export markets, not least in emerging nations like China, where PGI status is recognised and lauded. Market access remains a key issue for the whole UK industry.

“In the aftermath of horse-gate we have extended our reach into the secondary processing sector too, with a new licensing scheme for anybody who wants

Meat marketing • Charles Abel

to use our logos on their products containing Scotch Beef.” It is mandatory and demands detailed information, backed by traceability and labelling audits.

“We need to ensure nothing like horse-gate happens again. It was fraud, and it happened partly because of elongated and broken supply chains,” Mr McLaren said. “The real catastrophe is that nobody has ended up in jail.”

Brand promotion Scotch Beef promotion accounts for a large proportion of QMS spending and works very well.

“In Scotland we have 97% brand awareness, and in our target audience in London, which is a key market for us, it is 45-55%. We are very proud of that.

QMS is making a big push to get its messages across to children. A school meat vouchers system sees every secondary school entitled to purchase £100 of meat from their local butchers shop, for cookery teaching. Last year over 7000 students prepared red meat meals as a result. And at the Highland Show 15,000 school children visited the QMS stand, with 1,000 getting hands-on experience of cooking red meat.

And what of Scottish independence? “It has certainly raised the political debate to a level I've not seen in my lifetime, although it can be quite hard to drill down to the real issues,” Mr McLaren concluded.

• chairman@qmscotland.co.uk • www.qmscotland.co.uk

QMS chairman Jim McLaren (right) with Farmers Club chairman Jimmy McLean.

“We have been helped a lot by retailers, despite what some producers might feel, and we do see them as partners in the supply chain. But as the most expensive red meat in the world, after Wagyu beef, we do need to have our story right.”

To support that QMS and the Scottish Government recently co-funded the £1m Integrated Measurement of Eating Quality (IMEQ) project, which is using automated technology to assess the eating quality of beef as it passes through the slaughterhouse at line-speed. Measurements are taken of carcase pH and temperature, meat colour, carcase fat and other indicators of eating qualities.

Such information is already being used in meat plants in Scotland and in future individual carcase data will be fed back to producers, so farm-level decisions can be adjusted to help deliver consistently high quality meat.

Building and preserving brand awareness is a key issue.

Rough grazing trap But with 85% of Scotland’s farmland designated less favoured, compared with just 15% in England, destocking and abandonment of rough grazing land is a key worry.

“Land abandonment and so called ‘slipper farming’ is an outrage, and it will be even more of an outrage if CAP reform goes through and does not put a stop to it.” Coupled aid payments for livestock, effective minimum stocking rates and a better active farmer test were urgently needed.

“Maintaining critical mass, especially in the hills and uplands, is a big concern.” The loss of the Hall’s of Broxburn slaughterhouse was a big shock to our pig sector, and the closure or loss of more plants is our greatest concern. You don't need to look too far to see the impact where that has happened.”

Red meat was an easy target on perceived environmental emissions, he noted. “I say perceived, because the reality is that red meat production in Scotland represents a very effective conversion of rough grazing into nutritious protein for human consumption. It is an important story that needs telling.”

QMS technology is now checking meat eating quality at line speed in abattoirs.

www.thefarmersclub.com • 05

Dianna Bowles • Sheep

Sustainable productivity Professor Dianna Bowles OBE, a member of the Farmers Club and chair of The Sheep Trust, a science-led national charity, describes new findings about our hill sheep breeds UPLAND countryside throughout the UK is a place millions of people enjoy for walking and experiencing the beauty and solitude of the hills. In England alone the uplands are also home to almost half the national sheep flock, helping to extract value and food from land unsuitable for other systems of agriculture.

The hardiest breeds of sheep are the hill breeds, thriving on grass and rearing lambs in extensive farming systems. They offer great opportunities for sustainable production, meeting national goals for food security, environmental biodiversity and resilience in the face of climate change.

Farmers and scientists working together can bring about real advances in agriculture, says Professor Dianna Bowles.

The diversity of native sheep breeds in the UK is immense and the hill breeds in particular are locally adapted to their environments. But it is crucial that

we don’t forget just how endangered these livestock are – before we lose forever the benefits they offer.

Policymakers rightly want evidence to underpin their decisions, which is where science can help, by producing robust data. For example, we all knew that in 2001 livestock breeds farmed in areas of the UK worst hit by foot and mouth disease were suffering disproportionate losses compared to those elsewhere.

Farmers knew it, but sheep breeds had never been geo-referenced and no-one had data on numbers and their distribution.

To provide that information, scientists worked with breed societies and 1000 individual breeders to analyse flock sizes and distributions of commercial sheep breeds. For the first time flocks and breeds were put ‘on the map’. The results showed extreme

Retro-typing has been developed as one way to classify the historical relatedness of sheep breeds; the relative proportions of retro-types in the three hill breeds differ markedly, and also differ significantly from other UK breeds.

06 • The Farmers Club Summer Journal 2014

Sheep • Dianna Bowles

levels of geographical concentration. Twelve breeds had more than 90% of their numbers clustered in single relatively small areas of the UK (see www.sheeptrust.org for study and breed maps).

For example, 95% of all Herdwicks are farmed within 23km of the breed’s centre in Coniston, Cumbria.

Locally adapted hill breeds can enable low input farming and food production on land unsuitable for other forms of agriculture.

Herdwicks are hefted and locally adapted to the high Cumbrian fells. A 2012 census indicated a population of 65,000 animals. That may not make them a rare breed, but they are endangered, precisely because their local adaptation and their concentration in that habitat puts them at risk if an infectious disease enters their homeland.

The Sheep Trust’s geo-referencing data on the 12 breeds were presented to a government expert panel, which recommended for the first time that geographical concentration was sufficient reason to include a sheep breed on the national at-risk register.

Another conservation question often raised by policy makers is just how different are all these sheep breeds, particularly when they are locally adapted to very similar environments? If the breeds are genetically very similar, despite visual appearances, it could be argued they are not unique reservoirs of biodiversity.

To answer this question, scientists worked with the breed societies and breeders of Herdwicks, Rough Fells and Dalesbred, three northern hill breeds farmed in adjacent upland regions of the UK. The recently published data shows the breeds are genetically distinct, three different DNA-based technologies showing the breeds could be distinguished (www.sheeptrust.org and Bowles et al 2014 PLOS One).

Of major significance was the uniqueness of the Herdwicks. A high proportion of the sheep analysed carried the feature of a ‘primitive genome’ previously only identified in 10 of 133 breeds studied worldwide. This indicates the Herdwick breed is likely to have remained relatively isolated from the earliest domestication of its ancestors. Other data in the study suggested those beginnings were likely to have been in the Wadden Sea region off mainland Europe and involve sheep movements through Viking trading centres.

Such is the power of science to stretch back through time from a Herdwick standing on a hill today to its ancestors traded in the distant history of the first Millennium. The new study also raises our awareness of the biodiversity on offer in the genetic resources of our commercially farmed livestock breeds.

Evidence continues to accumulate that locally adapted breeds have many of the genetic traits needed for sustainable farming. In the recent study, for example, all three hill breeds showed a likely reduced susceptibility to the Maedi Visna virus, typically a problem in certain mainstream continental sheep breeds.

Besides opportunities for new strategies to introduce resistance to parasites and diseases, the genetics of locally adapted breeds offer other potentially useful traits, such as abilities to withstand extreme climates and harsh environments, as well as sustainable food production at low cost on marginal and disadvantaged land.

Methods are evolving to discover these genetic traits and enable them to inform and help mainstream agriculture. But for locally adapted breeds such as the Herdwick to survive they need the habitats to which they are adapted.

Loss of habitat through preventing Herdwicks access to their high fells will lead to a decrease in their numbers and the loss of the genetic resources they offer. Scientists and farmers urgently need to work together to design an equitable and holistic strategy to preserve our hill sheep and the natural heritage they help to sustain.

“Scientists and farmers urgently need to work together to design an equitable and holistic strategy to preser ve our hill sheep and the natural heritage they help to sustain.”

www.thefarmersclub.com • 07

Charles Abel • Education

Educating

the educators The Farmers Club’s own charity, the Farmers Club Charitable Trust, is stepping up its support for the nation’s educators.

Charles Abel reports

Further support for FCCT work would be most welcome, says chairman John Kerr

“Even well intentioned educators can find they have less time to do the scholarly activities,” Vic Croxson, former chief executive, Landex.

FOR over thirty years the Farmers Club Charitable Trust has supported the nation’s university and college lecturers with over £500,000 of funding to help them meet the needs of the industry’s next generation.

Mrs Stella Muddiman, who is now a valued trustee, very generously transferred land and property assets from a private family trust to the Famers Club Charitable Trust.

Now the Trust is calling on Club members for further backing as it redoubles its efforts to up-skill the nation’s farming educators.

Ensuring today’s educators update their skills has never been more important, says Prof Ian Crute, Chairman of the selection panel and chief scientist at the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board. “There is a risk that whilst researchers and industry leaders are pushing at the boundaries, educators can be somewhat behind the cutting edge, so students are not being given the latest position.

We do need to ensure the educators are keeping up with the front line developments, so they can communicate those to the students.”

“The Trust is the Farmers Club’s charity, open to donations and bequests from the membership, and we hope people will remember it when they organise their charitable giving,” says Suffolk farmer John Kerr, FCCT chair of trustees and a former Club chairman.

“It is how the Trust came into being in the first place, through donations from Club Members, and we would like to think it is something that current members will want to support in the future.”

Having already sent over 130 university and college lecturers all around the world in pursuit of new farming technologies and management systems, and fresh ideas to inspire their teaching, the Trust is now embarking on an ambitious new phase of engagement.

Successful applicants are now allocated a mentor, drawn from the FCCT selection panel, to provide a point of reference throughout their period of funding. “It is essentially closing the loop, so successful applicants get support after their initial interview right through to the production of the final report,” explains Vic Croxson, a member of the trust selection panel and former chief executive of Landex, the organisation for Land Based Colleges Aspiring to Excellence.

The Trust was originally conceived and set up in 1981, by the late Trevor Muddiman, and was underpinned by donations and covenants from Farmers Club members, generously matched by the late Sir John Eastwood. In the late 1990s

08 • The Farmers Club Summer Journal 2014

That can be a challenge, as funding cuts and calls for more contact time with students leave less time for educators to invest in their own personal development, notes Mr Croxson. “Even well intentioned educators can find they have less time to do the scholarly activities, particularly since lifelines like the regional development farms have gone.”

It is this aspect of educating the educators that makes the trust so special. “No other charity is funding educators to up-skill themselves in this way, which makes us rather unique,” says Mr Croxson.

It is a theme Club chairman Jimmy McLean fully supports. “In the drive to increase farm productivity it is so important to ensure sight is not lost of the important role of educating our next generation of farmers, farm workers and professionals supporting the industry.”

• Donations and enquiries should be directed to Club Secretary (snskinner@thefarmersclub.com) or FCCT chairman (john@kerrfarms.com)

Education • Charles Abel

This year’s successful candidates, selected from a field of 10 applicants from nine different educational establishments, were:

Miss Fiona Bannerman, SAC Consulting Veterinary Services, a division of SRUC, Edinburgh – learning from New Zealand’s experiences of reducing TB in deer populations, with a particular focus on diagnostic testing and a holistic strategy towards achieving a ‘TB Free New Zealand’.

na Miss Fio

Adenike Dr Bukola

Daramola

Dr Mofakkarul Islam, School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Brackenhurst Campus, Nottinghamshire – using social media and other innovative methods to provide distance learning at the University of Guelph, Canada.

man Banner

Dr Bukola Adenike Daramola, National Centre for Food Manufacturing, University of Lincoln, Holbeach, Lincolnshire – comparing farming practices and food safety management systems through the supply chain in developed and developing nations. Findings from China will be contrasted with those from the USA.

Dr Nicola Blackie Dr Nicola Blackie, Writtle College, Chelmsford, Essex – calf health, nutrition and welfare, especially on large -scale dairy farms in the USA, including involvement with the Kentuckiana Dairy Exchange and American Dairy Association Conference to examine knowledge transfer techniques.

2015 Applications Awards totalling up to £25,000 are made each year to advance agricultural education and training. Applications are invited from those employed in agricultural education and training, especially those early in their careers. Projects should aim to widen and develop the applicant’s technical expertise, through study activities either inside or outside the UK. The closing date for applications will be early February 2015.

m Dr Mofakkarul Isla

Mr Richard Rudge, Hereforshire and Ludlow College, Holme Lacy Campus, Herefordshire – communicating engine and machinery efficiency and emissions outputs with a focus on reducing emissions, increasing fuel economy and improving awareness within the industry.

See: www.thefarmersclub.com/awards.aspx

Recent reports • Does farm size matter • Carbon emissions and farming • Extensive beef production • Livestock in High Nature Value areas • Cutting Salmonella Dublin in cattle • Enhanced systems of knowledge transfer

rd Rudge Mr Richa www.thefarmersclub.com • 09

Maureen Strong • Healthy diets

Meat or veggie: balance is vital Maureen Strong, nutrition manager at BPEX and EBLEX, recently gave the House of Lords a scientific, evidence-based summary of the health impacts of vegetarian and vegan diets

With 2-4% of people in the UK being vegetarian, and growing calls for less meat consumption for environmental reasons, the implications of vegetarianism for healthy eating need considering – AHDB’s Maureen Strong.

THERE are a number of reasons why people choose not to eat meat: respect for sentient life, religious belief, animal rights, health issues, or cultural, environmental, aesthetic or economic considerations.

My focus at the recent All Party Parliamentary Food and Health Forum debate at the House of Lords was purely the evidence-based advantages and disadvantages of vegetarian and vegan diets from a health perspective.

The evidence continues to show the key to good health is a balanced diet, based on moderation in all things, as well as an active lifestyle. Diversity in the diet is an extremely important component of healthy eating. Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets can be either good or bad for health, depending on the variety and quantity of foods selected. Dietary deficiencies are most likely to be seen in people with very restrictive diets.

Yet potential health problems stemming from a poorly balanced diet are much greater for vegetarians than non-vegetarians, especially vegans.

Non meat-eating diets are much more likely to lead to deficiencies in calcium, iron and vitamin B12 intake if they are badly planned. A particular danger with poor vegan diets can be insufficient energy (calories), especially during infancy, childhood and pregnancy.

EPIC study My fellow debater at the House of Lords was Professor Tim Key of Oxford University, a vegan of 38 years, who is leading the UK work on the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). This study, involving 500,000 people (around half of them non meat-eaters) from 10 European

10 • The Farmers Club Summer Journal 2014

countries, has been examining the effects of a vegetarian diet on long-term health since 1993.

EPIC has reported that British vegetarians have low mortality compared with the general population.

The investigation has shown that, of those studied, on average, vegans are much thinner than meat eaters, with significantly lower levels of cholesterol; non meat-eaters have also been shown to have a 32% lower incidence of heart disease than the meateaters, while the study pointed to a 60% reduced risk of bowel cancer for non meat-eaters.

Interestingly, however, the research has shown that the risk of colorectal cancer is about the same for meat-eaters as it is for vegetarians – contrary to a lot of recent media commentary.

Yet, in pointing out that vegetarians consume more of the ‘protective’ foods, such as fruit and vegetables, the study has stated that any potential health benefits of a vegetarian diet could actually be “attributed to non-dietary lifestyle factors such as a low prevalence of smoking and a generally high socio-economic status, or to aspects of the diet other than the avoidance of meat and fish”, such as vegetarians having a high fibre intake, for example.

Poorly planned vegetarian diets can result in dietary deficiencies because: • Many of the richest sources of major minerals are found in animal-based foods • Natural dietary sources of vitamin D are limited to animal-based foods

Healthy diets • Maureen Strong

• A plant based diet could be limited in the availability of some indispensable amino acids if different plant proteins are not adequately combined

elements, such as vitamin A, folate and selenium.

Moreover, the cancer protecting factors in meat can be optimised by a diet that includes fruit and vegetables.

• High levels of fibre content in vegetarian diets, which includes phytates and oxalates, can impair intestinal absorption of some minerals such as iron, zinc and calcium

Healthier meat

• The iron found in plant foods, eggs and milk is an organic (non-haem) form and has a much lower absorption rate from the intestine than the haem iron found in meat • The richest source of zinc is found in animal-based foods.

In the research literature the protein, micronutrients and fat found in meat and meat products have been associated (but with no proven link) with chronic diseases such as cancer and coronary heart disease. Yet it should be stressed that while meat may contain a few, not clearly defined cancer promoting factors, it also contains a number of cancer protecting

It should also be noted that since the 1950s there have been significant reductions in the fat content of the meat we eat, through changes in breeding, butchery and cooking styles.

The fact is meat is a good source of protein, readily available iron, calcium, magnesium, selenium, zinc and a range of B vitamins. With such a high proportion of women of child bearing age being iron deficient, and considering the evidence linking meat consumption to cancer is so weak, eating meat as part of a balanced and varied diet should be encouraged.

Maureen Strong

In the question/answer section at the House of Lords, Professor Key said he would not tell people to become vegetarian or vegan for their health, stating that those who exclude meat from their diet need to think about sources of certain key vitamins and calcium to ensure their diet is well balanced.

More Information AHDB’s ‘Food a Fact of Life’ programme, run in partnership with the British Nutrition Foundation and The All Saints Education Trust, and supported by Seafish and Red Tractor, supports the teaching of healthy eating, cooking, food and farming in schools (3-16 years old). www.foodafactoflife.org.uk BPEX (pigs) and EBLEX (beef & lamb) also promote a healthy balanced diet and lifestyle through the website: http://meatandhealth.redmeatinfo.com The Meat Advisory Panel, comprising healthcare professionals, scientists and researchers, also provides independent and objective information: http://meatandhealth.redmeatinfo. com/meat-the-experts/meat-advisorypanel-(map).aspx

www.thefarmersclub.com • 11

Charles Abel • Club Food

Great British food New chef Paul Hogben’s fresh approach to British food is already causing a stir with members. Charles Abel investigates

England’s most prestigious venues, serving as executive chef at numerous top establishments in London and the Home Counties and running his own country inn in East Sussex. He has even found time to share his chef’s skills with youngsters at West Kent College.

“My aspiration is for The Farmers Club to be recognised within the Club world as a good place to eat, making the most of our wonderful British food, whilst at the same time giving members just what they want,” he enthuses.

The Club’s changing food mood was picked up by a senior supermarket executive recently, who commented: “I never knew the Farmers Club produced that kind of food.” His request for details of the supplier of the British bacon, and a recipe for the excellent Scotch Eggs, was politely declined.

“But it’s the response we want,” says Club Manager Virginia Masser.

Celebrating British food is Paul’s goal. “My remit is to provide simply cooked, beautifully presented, quality British food.” The new bar menu (see right) and an evolving restaurant menu are already providing a taste of what’s to come.

“The feedback from members has been brilliant, with restaurant numbers dramatically up, so we’re regularly serving 25-30 meals Lunch and Dinner every evening, plus functions. It’s nice that people are already appreciating the difference.”

Intriguingly, Paul is shifting the language used on the Club’s menus too. “We want to get away from international phrases, and keep it British. So we don’t serve mozzarella, we serve buffalo soft cheese from Laverstock Farm. And our salami is cured sausage from Deli Farm. It’s all about focusing on Britain’s food culture.”

Connecting the food served in the Club with some of the country’s top producers is a key goal.

“In previous roles I was always restricted to a shortlist of preferred suppliers. Here it is much more open, so I can source produce from wherever I like, so we get the best available for our members.

Best of British is the priority – with provenance and quality key issues for ingredients used in the Club kitchen.

“I never knew the Farmers Club produced that kind of food” – senior supermarket executive.

THE word is out! There’s a new chef leading The Farmers Club kitchen and the food on offer is moving into a new league. A revitalised bar menu is going down a storm, especially the Scotch eggs with Macsweens haggis, and great things are planned for the restaurant, functions and banqueting.

The man behind it all is Paul Hogben, an experienced chef with a passion for making the most of British food. His impressive track record includes creating delicious menus for some of

12 • The Farmers Club Summer Journal 2014

“We want to find out where the best farm produce is going and see if we can source more of it,” says Paul. Oxspring air dried ham from Worcestershire is a prime example. So too are the meats from Lake District Farmers. Key producers will be listed on menus in future.

Delivering an extensive menu of quality dishes is a challenge, which takes some management.

But Paul relishes the buzz from doing it well, having done so with great success at Henley Regatta and Goodwood Racecourse, the All England Tennis Club at Wimbledon, the 2012 Olympics and as chef proprietor of the Giant’s Rest country inn at Wilmington in East Sussex.

Club Food • Charles Abel

New Bar Menu A Lighter Bite Farmers Club Scotch egg

£4.50

Welsh Rarebit – Snowdonia Black Bomber cheese Blushing Bunny – Welsh Ra rebit with tomato sauce Devils on Horseback

£4.50 £4.50 £3.50

Inverawe smoked salmon, Riddlesdale goat’s cheese and broccoli tart Pork, sage and lemon sausag e

roll

English cured meat platter – coppa, beef, Oxspring dried ham, fennel and aniseed, home dried tomatoes, piccal illi, artisan breads Scottish smokehouse platte r – eel, cod’s roe, salmon, trout, mackerel, bee ts, dill mustard, artisan breads Soup of the day with artisa n breads Thick cut chips

£6.50 £4.50 £8.00 individual £14.00 to share £8.00 individual £14.00 to share £5.00 £2.00

Spicy potato wedges

£2.25

Garden salad

£2.00 New chef Paul Hogben comes with a wealth of experience. Diners in the Club are already noticing a big change in the food on offer.

He has a passion for developing staff, noting how rewarding it is to see the sparkle of enthusiasm in a new recruit’s eye and help them progress.

Whilst Head of School/Lecturer for Hospitality at West Kent College he inspired his students by recruiting Albert Roux to work alongside them to create a gala charity dinner.

Paul lives with wife Jeannette in Marsh Green near Edenbridge in Kent. His interests include spending time with their five children, aged 16 to 26, sport, especially rugby, and gardening.

His long-term ambition is to own a small-holding.

Surely an opportunity for discussion if you get chance to meet our new chef in the Club.

Sandwiches Toasted Club – bacon, roast chicken, coleslaw Toasted Steak – sirloin, on ion marmalade, grain musta rd Free range egg mayonnaise, baby spinach and mushroo m Coronation Chicken – light curried mayonnaise, baby gem Inverawe smoked salmon, cream cheese, dill Cured smoked beef, grain mu stard mayonnaise, gherkin Oxspring ham, rocket, buffa lo soft cheese Somerset Brie, cranberry, chi cory Croxton Manor mature che ddar, smashed apple chutne y Crayfish chive cocktail Choice of local artisan breads : ancient, multi-grain, slipper (ciabatta style), classic sour dough

£6.00 £8.00 £3.50 £4.50 £5.00 £4.80 £4.80 £3.50 £3.50 £5.00

• To book a restaurant table call 020 7930 3557 extn: 200/201 or e-mail reception@thefarmersclub.com

www.thefarmersclub.com • 13

George Jessel • Communications

Communications and continuity MR SHAW of The Strand (a founding member) said in May 1841: “what is wanted is a British Farmers Club. Not just another social or political club, of the kind then being founded, built, or settling down all over London, but a gathering place for farmers which could also serve as a platform, from which would go out to England news of all that was good in farming, with reports of any discussions about those things which needed to be done…...”

Good communication is vital for the Club’s future – George Jessel.

As Chairman of the newly named Communications Committee (formerly the Journal and Communications Committee) I think it is important Mr Shaw’s comments are considered in 2014.

The Shaw Room, next door to the bar, holds all the minutes, journals, records and discussion papers pertaining to the Club, including the very first Journal published in 1881, which included reports on flooding and land drainage issues.

As we mark the 250th edition of the Journal we need to ensure we continue to explain just how we are delivering on our three founding principles – to be a home from home in the heart of London; an outstanding shop window for British produce; and a focal point for intellectual debate and discussion on key agricultural issues.

Many of you will have noticed significant changes within the Club, with new bedrooms, a

major project on the eighth floor and some marked changes in the kitchen as we transform our food offering.

Amidst so much change within the Club, the industry and wider society the Journal continues to champion the Club’s core principles and explain new developments with great success. Now, to complement it, we are constructing a brand new website, so you can book rooms, register for events and take part in internet forums – all within a clean, professional, secure modern on-line environment.

Social media is not being ignored either, with Twitter and Facebook profiles being developed.

E-mail newsletters are another great way of keeping you informed, so do please check we have your e-mail address so we can keep you right up-to-date (see page 20). Of course we will also continue to offer a friendly voice if you wish to make your requests by telephone.

Our main branding has been refreshed too, the new logo featuring a rather more active Ceres surrounded by a contemporary typeface. It is all part of our drive to reflect a Club that is moving with the times – just as Mr Shaw would have wished, I am sure.

• George Jessel Chairman, Communications Sub-Committee george@jesselfarms.co.uk

Veronese teach-in WHILE I never mind coming to an artist cold and making my own judgments the Farmers Club trip to Veronese: Magnificence in Renaissance Venice was wonderfully enhanced by our pre-exhibition talk at the National Gallery by freelance lecturer Richard Stemp.

Club visit to the National Gallery gave a wonderful insight into the art of Veronese.

He held his audience entranced for over an hour describing Paolo Veronese’s journey from stonecutter’s son to apprenticeship to a Master painter at 18. Richard explained, how small, but exquisite, ‘sample’ paintings were produced for wealthy patrons wishing to enhance their homes and churches. The finished masterpieces often included portraits of those patrons, often slightly out of place in the religious subjects represented.

Many of the paintings are vast allegorical or religious scenes, with a remarkable variety of human

14 • The Farmers Club Summer Journal 2014

and animal subjects. Having been alerted by Richard we could pick out recurring themes and faces, and see how the main theme was often continued in the background.

Such close scrutiny also threw up some interesting anomalies. As I heard one visitor observe: “them’s some right queer horses they had then.”

The hour and a half to view the seven room exhibition was barely enough and I hope to return for a second look. Of course it will not be the same without the traditional Farmers Club hospitality, for which Lisbeth and the staff must be warmly thanked.

• Eleanor North

Club Event • Charles Abel

St George’s Day GEORGE ‘Johnny’ Johnson, of World War II Dambuster Squadron fame, was the perfect guest of honour at a magnificent St George’s day luncheon attended by over 160 members and their guests in central London’s splendid Butchers' Hall.

The years fell away as Johnny recounted one of the RAF’s most daring missions when English courage, determination and technical ingenuity were called on to protect a nation in peril.

With a twinkle in his eye this sprightly 91-year old enthralled guests with tales of training sorties, the mission itself and some unexpected links with farming.

Born and raised the son of a farm foreman he recalled days helping with the milking, haymaking and harvesting near Horncastle in rural Lincolnshire, a county he branded ‘the home of agriculture’, to robust applause.

George ‘Johnny’ Johnson and Club chairman Jimmy McLean with the new portrait by artist Richard Stone, officially unveiled at the luncheon, attended by Air Vice Marshal Malcolm Brecht CBE representing the Chief of the Air Staff and Group Captain David Robertson RAF (Retd) chairman of the 617 Squadron Association.

Bedroom bookings

His early ambition was to get into horticulture or farming. But war intervened and he was soon back in Lincolnshire training as a bomb aimer with 617 Squadron at RAF Scampton.

One particular practise run amused him greatly, flying low up the River Nene towards Sutton Bridge, ducking below the power lines where they crossed the river and pulling up sharply to clear the bridge itself. “Our brief was to fly at 100ft, but we rarely rose above 30ft,” he recalled.

“Knowing farmers as I do I’m sure the compensation claims put in for damage to flowering tulip crops around Spalding far exceeded anything our low flying caused!”

Secrecy meant leave was cancelled in the run-up to the mission, jeopardising Johnny’s marriage to sweetheart Gwyn Morgan. “It was made very clear – if I wasn’t there for the wedding on Apr 3, then I needn’t bother at all. The first mandate had been issued!”

Pilot Joe McCarthy protested, with success.

“We got our leave and I got my wedding.” Sixty three years of marriage followed, blessed with three children, eight grand-children and 16 great-grandchildren.

In the Ruhr Valley raid Johnny’s Lancaster attacked the earthen Sorpe dam. It was surrounded by hills, making a head-on approach impossible, so a drop bomb replaced the Barnes-Wallis bouncing bomb and the approach was along the dam just 30ft above the water.

“We made nine practise runs until we got it right.

The 6,500lb of explosives crumbled the top of the dam and sent water shooting into the sky – some even came into our turret.”

En-route home the crew witnessed the ‘inland sea’ where the Mohne dam had been breached, prompting 617 Squadron’s motto: après moi, le deluge – after me, the flood.

“I never thought I wouldn’t come back from the raids, because I had such confidence in our pilot Joe McCarthy,” he reflected. But eight aircraft and 53 crew were lost.

For his bravery Johnny was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal. At Butchers’ Hall he received a standing ovation, and a toast to himself and all those he represented. A fitting conclusion to a truly memorable day.

If it is not possible to book a bedroom at the Farmers Club members are strongly urged to join the waiting list, which very often leads to a room becoming available.

Alternatively full use can be made of the Club’s informal agreement with the East India Club at 16, St James’s Square (www.east indiaclub.com), the Caledonian Club adjacent to Hyde Park Corner (www. caledonianclub.com) or the Civil Service Club at 13-15 Great Scotland Yard (www.civilserviceclu b.org.uk). Reception also holds a list of hotels within a 15 minute walk that might be considered good value for money.

www.thefarmersclub.com • 15

Charles Abel • Insight

Farming Figures A quick look at... new NFU President Meurig Raymond... through some key statistics

13 years-old Age when Meurig inherited the family farm in Pembrokeshire with twin brother Mansel

1,400ha Current total farmed area, inc 570ha owned

620 cows Milked in two herds to supply Dairy Crest Direct at Severnside

2,000 Store lambs fattened and up to 750 beef cattle

890ha Combinable crops – wheat, barley, rape

16 staff

Employees on the farm, more than half of whom have served for over 20 years

15-20% Drop in Raymond farm income over next five years due to CAP reform. It could “set farming in England and Wales back 20 years”

47,000 Businesses represented by the NFU, of which 15% are in Wales

Halved in 4 years

Impact on bovine TB cases in Eire following badger culling, a key issue for the NFU

8 years Meurig’s term as NFU deputy president

16 • The Farmers Club Summer Journal 2014

Ladies in Ag ON March 6th, in the run up to celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8th, over 50 women joined farm minister George Eustace for a discussion evening in the Eastwood Room. Judging by its success many more could follow.

Ladies in Agriculture is an informal networking group that meets three times a year at The Farmers Club. It comprises women of all ages and stages in their careers, representing farming, horticulture, food, media, utilities and environmental businesses.

Christine Tacon, Grocery Code Adjudicator, is a founding member.

“A few of us started Ladies in Agriculture as an opportunity for women at different stages of their career to meet over a meal, but we weren't really sure if we wanted to do it: we were all adamant that we wanted to be seen as career people in our own right, and not specifically as women. But there is evidence that women are less likely to manage their careers, to be less confident at pushing themselves forward, and it seems that our network is fulfilling some need to provide contacts and mentors, judging by the growth in our numbers!”

Previous meetings have discussed succession planning, CAP reform and the need for a female NFU national office holder! “We also have fun, and I am sure the Farmers Club has never seen anything like it, when nearly 60 business women took over the Eastwood Room: there were nowhere near enough coat hooks in the Ladies cloakroom...!”

At each gathering attendees can invite a guest, who is then invited to future events, explains Louise Carmichael, consultancy manager at the National Trust. The aim is to give like-minded women a chance to discuss agriculturally related issues, and support each other, and particularly for mentoring of some of the younger/ more junior women in the industry.

Ladies in Agriculture is a fast growing informal group, says founding member, Christine Tacon.

Mr Eustace noted that women were the driving force behind many farming partnerships. He heard strong opinions about the need for policy to better reflect long-term planning needs, problems with succession planning and getting into the industry, and a plea not to hamstring farmers with regulations making it increasingly difficult to employ casual labour from Eastern Europe.

Meeting so many women involved in such different aspects of the industry was both exciting and encouraging, reflects Canon Dr Jill Hopkinson, National Rural Officer, Church of England. “I was delighted to be involved in a dynamic and innovative group making a great difference to farming and food production. It’s also great that so many younger women, just starting out in their careers, were there – such great potential for the future.”

Kate Lord, manager of Cotswold Farm Park was impressed. “We created a fantastic forum for sharing ideas and discussion, and importantly we were able to network and discuss common goals, planting seeds for future business ventures or collaboration opportunities. It was a fantastic venue to meet and share ideas. This is a group which can only grow and get better.”

Jane Craigie, chairman of the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists, says the group enables women of all ages to network, take counsel and make trusted contacts and friends. “In my experience women are very good at making things happen, as well as challenging the status quo. So watch this space and follow @LadiesinAg on Twitter!”

“We were able to network and discuss common goals, planting seeds for future business ventures or collaboration opportunities” – Kate Lord, Cotswold Farm Park.

Club Visit • Bob Sculthorpe

Turner at sea Travelling by boat to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich for the Turner at Sea exhibition was another truly excellent example of judging the right focus and engaging the interest of so many Club members.

Three weekly expeditions were organised for a total of 120 visitors to first enjoy lunch at the Club and then a river trip to Greenwich, where as we disembarked near Cutty Sark we were beginning to feel patriotic – this was our heritage!

The Museum contains many treasures and memories, clearly laid out and presented at their best. And the jewel in the crown – the reason we had all come – Turner (1775-1851) and the paintings reflecting his fascination with the sea.

So many of his celebrated seascapes were on display, plus paintings by celebrated Dutch and French painters who influenced him, providing a backdrop against which Turner developed his own style and gained recognition as an exceptional artist.

Britain at war, exemplified by The Battle of Trafalgar, gave Turner another significant opportunity to complete a remarkable masterpiece – years after the event, capturing the debris, sailors, panic, fire, smoke, sea and sky all in one maelstrom of activity and anguish.

Wonderful lunch at the Club was followed by a delightful river trip to Greenwich for the impressive Turner at Sea exhibition.

There were also placid scenes of utter tranquillity, captured with the same dignity and laying out a social statement by carefully depicting life as it was in those long ago years.

This Club visit was a joy to be a part of and special thanks go to Lisbeth for another wonderful event so effortlessly orchestrated.

• Bob Sculthorpe

Letter to the editor Dear Sir, On a fine spring day over 40 members and friends met at the Club to enjoy a river trip to Greenwich to see the Turner Exhibition at the Royal Maritime Museum, the second of three such Club visits charmingly organised by events manager Lisbeth Rune (the original application was three-times over-subscribed!).

An excellent two-course lunch at the Club helped us get to know as many of each other as possible. Lisbeth led us to a ferry from Westminster Pier, from which we had a wonderful view of the banks of the River Thames, an education in itself.

At Greenwich we were led past all the wonderful and historic buildings to the Royal Maritime Museum, where we had good time to enjoy and learn from the fabulous paintings, and enjoy a cup of tea before the return voyage.

We were then free to head home or (for us) return to the Club, for a dram or two and another excellent and happy dinner.

Dear Sir, In February I spent a fortn ight at the C wish to expre lub and I ss my thanks to all concern a really enjo ed for yable stay. I am writing b feel that not ecause I do enough cred it is given to excellent staf the Club’s f. I was impre ssed by ever yone.

All members of the recep tion team w patient and ere friendly, helpful at al l times. The restaurant st bar and aff were effic ient and atte the quality o ntive and f the food ex cellent. Last, least, I must but not compliment the cleaning thanks to w staff, hom my roo m was left tid impeccably cl y and ean every day . Please conve thanks to all. y my Yours faithfu lly, Dr LM Beza nt

This was a perfect example of the Club at its best, giving much useful enjoyment to a few regulars and many members who don’t use the Club so much. Thank you so much to Lisbeth and all our staff.

Yours faithfully, Peter Jackson Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Letters to the Editor can be sent to: “Letters to the Editor” 3, Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL or e-mailed to: editor@thefarmersclub.com

www.thefarmersclub.com • 17

Beth Hockham, Chairman; John Jacques, Vice Chairman; Lisbeth Rune, Secretary • U30s

U30s Chairman’s Jottings As I write I have just returned home from Frome livestock market having dropped off a trailer load of last year’s Pedigree Pol Dorset sheep. I am very pleased with my flock this year and looking forward to lambing again this autumn!

The U30s have had a busy start to the year kicking off with the Spring Dining Evening at the Club in early March. We were joined by guest speaker Jim Godfrey OBE who gave us a wonderful afterdinner presentation, with particular emphasis on GM. Thank you again to Jim for giving up his time so generously.

The U30s have just returned from an action packed Spring Farm Walk based in Salisbury. We visited Boyton Farm owned by Caroline WheatleyHubbard where we had a fantastic tour of the farm, dairy and rare breed Tamworth pigs, with lunch in the newly renovated thatched barn (including the best shepherd’s pie many of us had ever tasted!). This was followed by a butchery demonstration, where the U30s had a go at making sausages! A fantastic time was had by all and our grateful thanks go to Caroline for hosting the day. A full write up is due in the next Journal.

Our next event is the Pimms Evening on Friday 25th July. If the weather is good enough (fingers crossed!) this will be served on the beautiful balcony at the Club.

Then on 17th-19th October we have the Autumn Farm Walk based in Cirencester, which will include an afternoon of clay shooting. Put those dates in your diaries!

The U30s are very active on social media and if you are not already doing so you can request to add yourself to the Facebook group ‘Farmers Club U30s’ and follow me on Twitter for all the latest U30s updates @BeeHockham. You can also keep up to date with U30s events at www.thefarmersclub-u30s.com

Contact Beth for more information Beth Hockham U30 Chairman 07773 232264 overcoombe@hotmail.com www.thefarmersclubu30s.com

18 • The Farmers Club Summer Journal 2014

U30 Dinner The Spring Dining Evening was on 14 March and began with drinks in the Cumber Room where we took the opportunity to catch up with friends, meet some new ones, and greet our guest speaker, Jim Godfrey.

We then drifted through to the Eastwood room where, following grace, we were treated to a delicious three course meal. To start we had Inverawe smoked mackerel pate with pickled cucumber, followed by Cumbrian lamb two ways with butter roast celeriac, rounded off with chocolate and toffee cheesecake with caramelised pecans for desert. Clean plates all around!

After dinner we heard from Jim Godfrey, an arable and pig farmer from Lincolnshire. We were especially pleased to welcome him as our guest speaker, because of his active involvement in a number of organisations. Mr Godfrey is a council member of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), chairman of the BBSRC Advanced Training Partnerships, chairman of the Technology Strategy Board Sustainable Agriculture and Food Innovation Platform, and a member of the UK Government’s Leadership Council’s Agri-Tech Strategy, to name but a few of his roles!

Mr Godfrey gave a comprehensive insight into his involvement in agricultural research in the UK and further afield. He also shared with us some of his memories of when he was an Under 30s Farmers Club member himself. His talk sparked a lively discussion on the future of agriculture and crop research, including what we can learn from other countries, climate change and its effects on crop production, and GM crops.

After coffee we headed to the bar and, taking advantage of the mild evening, spilled out onto the balcony. A drink or two later we were rounded up by U30s Chairman Beth Hockham and the party was taken to the one and only Opal night club. A fun and entertaining evening all around.

Caroline Nicholls

Authors invited If any U30s members would be interested in writing an article for the Journal do please get in touch. Submissions are always very welcome – addressing any topical issue, business venture or farming insight. See “4,000 years of farming” article opposite, for a typical example. Contact Under 30s chairman: overcoombe@hotmail.co.uk

U30s • Beth Hockham, Chairman; John Jacques, Vice Chairman; Lisbeth Rune, Secretary

Soulton Hall herd c.1880.

How things once were – Soulton Hall household c.1900.

4,000 years of farming Under 30s member Tim Ashton traces the history of his family’s farm in Shropshire There cannot be a farm in the UK without a long history. Much of this country will have been farmed since at least 2,000BC: indeed, in the Bronze Age land was farmed which is too marginal to be worked today.

At Soulton in Shropshire, which my family has farmed for a long while, we are lucky to have a solid set of records reaching back to a little before the Norman Conquest, with physical evidence around the farm to help interpret its story over the ages too.

Iron Age farmers left a mark of their occupation 4,000 years ago at the very north of the farm, where they had round houses and stock enclosures. In the field you cannot see anything of them (save drainage issues in 2012), but on aerial images a dozen or so large circles under the crops are plain to see. Indeed, there were big Iron Age communities not far away at Oswestry and Burry Walls.

The Romans built a road from Chester to Wroxeter, their fourth largest city, right through the farm and must have worked the land.

The name ‘Soulton’ comes from Saxon days and means ‘settlement with the ‘súl’ (plough)’. In those days Beorhtric had this farm (with others). He was the brother of Eadric Streona, Ethelred the Unready’s son-in-law, last Ealdorman of Mercia and BBC History's ‘Worst Britain’. The pair of them were murdered by King Cnut on Christmas Day 1017, as part of the process of the unification of the older Kingdoms, including Mercia and Wessex, into one Kingdom of England.

At the Conquest (1066), all land ownership was reset.

Two things happened to Soulton. A motte and bailey castle was built (its mound is still here), setting the boundary with Wales. At the same time ownership of the farm was transferred to a royal chapel in nearby

Shrewsbury Castle, with the profit of the farm going to support the clerics there.

From this time on the written record for the farm benefited from the holding’s status as a manor. There were two squabbles about its ownership that made it to courts in London in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and one of Shropshire First MPs, Yvo de Soulton, owned the place in the late 1200s. The practical farming at the time was done by families whose farmsteads were in the teens of acres, and their names survive in field names such as Massey’s Rough and Clay’s Bank.

The farm was bought in 1556 by the first Protestant Lord Mayor of London, Sir Rowland Hill. He was in danger as Bloody Mary was setting about the Counter Reformation, and for him setting up on a manor 150 miles away from that terror was a pragmatic thing to do. He built a striking brick manor house to improve the ancient timber framed hall he took over from the Twynihos, who had been there for the previous 200 years.

Over time the farm-steading arrangements were consolidated into a more and more centralized operation, ranging over the whole holding, a process which was basically complete by 1783, when a set of brick barns was raised by the hall.

In common with most other farms there was much investment in the 1840s, and again in the 20th century, as farming advanced.

The mixed farming which had been practiced in the 1800 and 1900s specialised into dairying until the 1980s, when the farm became arable. Around this time tourism diversifications began, and the house now operates as a hotel, with cottages and weddings, with the farming and heritage of the farm playing an important role in their distinctive identity.

Soulton Hall can trace farming on the site back to 4,000 years ago.

Tim Ashton Tim Ashton returned to his family’s farm and hotel at Soulton Hall, near Shrewsbury in 2009. Prior to this he read law at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford and spent a year as an intern with lawyers Howarth and Smith in Los Angeles.

For more information visit www.soulton hall.co.uk or email enquiries@soultonhall. co.uk

www.thefarmersclub.com • 19

Stephen Skinner • Club News

Club News New menus well received Despite what might be viewed as a quiet start to the year in terms of bedroom occupancy, a trend seen right across London, I am much encouraged by the increase in the number of members and their guests taking lunch and dinner in the Club.

The lack of the bedrooms has been an issue for some I do appreciate, especially at the busy times. But fortunately, having created four additional bedrooms last year, we could at least reduce the problem a bit.

Much of this can be attributed to the arrival of our new head chef, Paul Hogben and the menu offerings, offerings that will be expanded again at the beginning May. Certainly there has been a lot of positive feedback and we intend to build on this.

Our next works, approved by the General Committee, are the substantial refurbishment of the kitchens. This will, we hope, be completed during the summer when demand is lowest, but I will keep you informed of progress.

The renovation of our 8th floor bedrooms has been significantly delayed, unfortunately, due to bureaucratic issues. However, we now have these resolved and I am hopeful we will have converted the six single bedrooms that all share a bathroom into five single en-suite and one queen sized room, again en-suite, by the end of July.

Be that as it may, the intent with the refurbishment is to improve the working environment for the kitchen staff, bring us into line with current regulations, and importantly enable the head chef and his team to deliver better quality food and a greater choice to both functions and the restaurant at the same time. This is all part of the General Committee's desire to raise our game for food delivery.

Philip M Bolam LVO Members will be sad to learn that a very dear friend of agriculture, and of the Club, Philip Bolam LVO, died peacefully on Sunday 13th April. Philip was honorary press secretary of the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth for many years and a very regular user of the Club.

Rosemary Duffy On Tuesday 8th April Rosemary Duffy, who worked behind the bar at the Club for almost 35½ years attended a farewell lunch with a large group of past chairmen. To be present at this event was very special indeed and a real honour.

Rosemary is without doubt unique and gave to the Club and its members far more than she ever took. She will be greatly missed by members and staff alike. This wonderful letter of thanks and appreciation arrived shortly after:

20 • The Farmers Club Summer Journal 2014

I am writing to express my deepest thanks and gratitude for a memorable day that I will always treasure. It was just so wonderful to see you all again. I am still reeling from the extent of your kindness and generosity. It was so thoughtful of you all. I know I shall never forget the hospitality that was bestowed upon my niece, Amanda, and myself on Tuesday last, and I promise to remember all of you with kindest thoughts.

Rosemary.

Dress Code In line with the Club’s desire to create a more relaxed atmosphere at weekends, smart casual dress may be worn from 6pm Friday to midnight Sunday. Smart clean jeans, polo shirts and trainers are perfectly acceptable.

The same applies throughout the Club’s special summer opening period from Saturday 9th August to Sunday 24th August. Children should conform, as best they can, with the above guidelines.

E-mail addresses please The Club is keen to keep members fully updated with all the latest news about events and e-mail is often the best way of doing this. However, more than 35% of members have still not advised the Club of their current e-mail address. To ensure we have your correct e-mail address simply send an e-mail to update@thefarmersclub.com

Website on track The Club’s new website is getting very close to completion and I am very excited by what it is likely to be able to offer. It will not only mean a far better presentation, which is cleaner and easier to read and to navigate, but also the ability to book events more simply, to book bedrooms, have better on-line access to past Journals, Charitable Trust Bursary papers and Pinnacle Award presentations. Members will also be able to discuss on-line the key issues of the day and more simply provide feedback to the Secretariat.

Club News • Stephen Skinner

Summer opening For the past three years the Club has remained open throughout the summer, affording members a great opportunity to enjoy all that London has to offer – and it is doing so again this year.

The key dates are Saturday 9th August to Sunday 24th August, when bedroom availability should be excellent, with fewer members seeking to use the Club for business.

Club Calendar Diary Dates Please check the dates carefully as they sometimes change and new dates are added for each issue. Details of Club events circulated in the previous issues are available from the Secretariat on 020 7930 3751.

JUNE Visit to Orkney – FULL

Breakfast will be served throughout this period and on weekdays tea, coffee and sandwiches will be available from 10am to 2pm, the bar will be open from 11.00am to 10.00pm and a bistro style menu will be available from 12.30pm to 9.00pm.

Tuesday 10th-Thursday 12th

Royal Highland Show Dinner, Edinburgh Wednesday 18th Application form in Spring Journal

Romeo & Juliet Ballet, London Friday 20th Application form in Spring Journal

Orkeny visit The dress code is relaxed to weekend attire – smart casual, so smart jeans, trainers and polo shirts are perfectly acceptable.

Wednesday/Thursday 25/26th Application form next issue

Royal Norfolk Show Drinks Reception Wednesday 25th Application form enclosed

Contact reservations: 0207 7930 3557 extn 204 or e-mail: reservations@thefarmersclub.com

Travel diaries

JULY Annual General Meeting, Whitehall Court Tuesday 8th

Highland Show

Despite some cows being raised no one wants to buy local milk, preferring either water from coconuts, or milk imported from Texas. Chickens are an unusual pest, having become feral over the years. Honduran green iguanas are preferred for their eggs – they lay 50 to 60 each.

Royal Welsh Show Drinks Reception Monday 21st Application form enclosed

AUGUST Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo – FULL Thursday 7th

Edinburgh Tattoo

SEPTEMBER Westmoreland Show Drinks Reception Thursday 11th Application form enclosed

Beethoven’s Ninth at Royal Albert Hall Saturday 27th Supper in the Club and coach transfer to/from the concert

OCTOBER Harvest Festival Service

Harvest Festival

Tuesday 14th Service with choir at St Martin-in-the-Fields followed

by Buffet Supper at the Club

NOVEMBER St Andrews Day Lunch

Bananas are routinely sprayed with ethylene to speed ripening for the European market, while bread fruit trees produce a large green round fruit used as a carbohydrate source like potatoes.

If you would like to share experiences of farming beyond the ordinary do send a brief e-mail and photos to Journal editor Charles Abel at editor@thefarmersclub.com

CLA Game Fair Drinks Reception, Blenheim Palace, Oxford Saturday 19th Application form enclosed

Club members travel far and wide to experience global agriculture and Erica Bargman, a Churchill Fellow of Canfields Farm in West Sussex, was no expcetion when she visited Grand Cayman in the Caribbean.

This British Overseas Territory has no vat or tax, apart from import tax. Farm support includes subsidised insecticides, barbed wire and rope, all sold at the delivered cost to the Department of Agriculture. All rather different to farming in the UK.

Royal Norfolk Show

Friday 28th At RBS HQ, Gogarburn, Edinburgh

DECEMBER Statoil Masters Tennis at Royal Albert Hall Friday 5th Supper in the Club with coach transfer to/from the tennis

Masters tennis

www.thefarmersclub.com • 21

The Farmers Club • Club Information

Club Information 020 7930 3557 • www.thefarmersclub.com Office Holders Patron – Her Majesty The Queen HONORARY VICE PRESIDENTS Peter Jackson CBE, Sir David Naish DL VICE PRESIDENTS Mark Hudson, Roddy Loder-Symonds, John Parker, Norman Shaw CBE, Mrs Susan Kilpatrick OBE THE COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT OF THE CLUB 2014 PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN Jimmy McLean TRUSTEES Barclay Forrest OBE (Chairman), Mrs Nicki Quayle, Julian Sayers, Paul Heygate VICE-CHAIRMAN Anne Chamberlain HONORARY TREASURER Richard Butler IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN Stewart Houston CBE CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND SECRETARY Air Commodore Stephen Skinner CLUB CHAPLAIN The Reverend Sam Wells COMMITTEE Elected 2009: John Stones Elected 2012: Mrs Ionwen Lewis, Charles Notcutt OBE (Chairman – House Sub-Committee)

Statoil tennis On Friday 5th December Farmers Club members have a unique opportunity to relive the rivalries from some of the greatest tennis legends of all time. The 2013 Statoil Masters Tennis saw a host of former world number ones and Grand Slam Champions battle it out at the world-famous Royal Albert Hall. The star players included John McEnroe, Pat Rafter, Mats Wilander, Tim Henman, Goran Ivanisevic and Mansour Bahrami and another glittering line-up is expected this year with two great matches per session for the afternoons and evenings.

Our programme starts at 5pm with a two-course supper with wine in the Club. At 6.30pm guests depart by coach for the Royal Albert Hall, ready for the tennis, which starts at 7.30pm.

At 10.00pm (approx.) the tennis ends and the coach returns to the Club.

This event is limited to 40 places only. Cost per person is £95.00 including supper at the Club, ticket and coach transfers to and from the Royal Albert Hall. Apply on line at www.thefarmersclub.com or complete the booking form enclosed in this issue.

Elected 2013: Lindsay Hargreaves, Tim Harvey, Nick Helme, George Jessel DL (Chairman – Communications Sub-Committee), Peter Jinman OBE, Mrs Jo Turnbull Elected 2014: Robert Lasseter, Allan Stevenson, Alison Ritchie, Martin Taylor, Campbell Tweed (Chairman – Membership Sub-Committee) Co-opted: Beth Hockham (Chairman Under 30s), John Jacques (Vice Chairman Under 30s), Martin Taylor THE FARMERS CLUB CHARITABLE TRUST TRUSTEES John Kerr MBE JP DL (Chairman), James Cross, Vic Croxson DL, Stephen Fletcher, Mrs Stella Muddiman JP, The Chairman and Immediate Past Chairman of the Club (ex officio)

Beethoven extravaganza

NEXT ISSUE Watch out for your Harvest issue of the Farmers Club Journal, due out in mid-July, with all the latest Club news, plus reports on the Club’s Pinnacle Awards for business management, visits to Chelsea Flower Show, the Under 30s Salisbury farm walk, mental health in rural communities and a preview of World Expo Milano 2015 where food is the focus.

22 • The Farmers Club Summer Journal 2014

On Saturday 27th September the Club is attending an unmissable all-Beethoven concert in the majestic setting of the Royal Albert Hall. The heroic 'Emperor' piano concerto (Concerto No.5) and the monumental ‘Choral Symphony’ (Symphony No.9), with its climactic ‘Ode to Joy’ head the programme. Christopher Warren-Green conducts, with Teo Gheorghiu piano, Lisa Milne soprano, Jennifer Johnston mezzo-soprano, Barry Banks tenor, Neal Davies bass, the Philharmonia Chorus and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Our programme starts at 5.00pm with a two-course supper with wine in the Club. At 6.30pm guests depart by coach for the Royal Albert Hall, ready for the start of the concert at 7.30pm. After the music, at 10.00pm (approx.), the coach returns guests to the Club.

This event is limited to 30 places only. The cost per person is £105.00 including supper at the Club, ticket for the concert and coach transfers to and from the Royal Albert Hall. To book apply on-line at www.thefarmersclub.com or complete the booking form enclosed with this issue.

Club Information • The Farmers Club

Deaths It is with regret that we announce the death of the following members: Lord Acton

United States of America

Mr P Bolam LVO Mr R Borner Mr J Clegg Mr C Colbatch-Clark

London Kent Oxfordshire Herefordshire

Mr R Collis JP

Bedfordshire

Miss E Creak

Warwickshire

Mr J Foulkes MBE

Montgomeryshire

Mr E Haughey

Down

Mr A Lawrence

Surrey

Mrs N Marsh

Shropshire

Lady S McConnell

Antrim

Mr D Milligan

Sussex

Mr E Naldrett

Surrey

Mr D Piccaver

Lincolnshire

Mr D Songhurst Mr J Suckley Dr R Turner Mr J Watson Dr H Watt Mr J Weir Mr J Williams MBE Mr R Young

Gloucestershire Shropshire Suffolk Aberdeenshire Banffshire London Lincolnshire Devon

Honours and Awards The Chairman and Members of the Club congratulate the following members whose names appeared in the New Year Honours List: Kenneth Applebee, Essex

OBE

Roy Boreham, Essex

MBE

John Hoyles, Cambridgeshire

MBE

Dr Nigel Kerby, Fife

MBE

Mrs Marion Regan, Kent

MBE

New Members The following were elected: UK Members Mr R Baker-Bates Mr H Brett Mr W Brogden Ms E Cadzow Mr A Carne

Suffolk Oxfordshire Cornwall West-Lothian Buckinghamshire

Mr P Cooper Mr J Dalton Mr J Dixon Mr C Fillingham Mrs C Hemming Mrs J Hornsey Mr A Lewins Mr S MacIntyre Mr P Mewton Mr I Padfield Mr M Pudge Mr P Rogers Dr C Saenger Mrs E Scott Mr M Shapley Mr R Siddorn Mrs K Singleton-Smith Mr H Sinkler Mr I Smellie Mr N Thompson Mr D Watkins Mr N Wheeler Mr M Wood Mr A Wylie Overseas Mr P Vowles

Hampshire Hampshire Yorkshire Essex Devon Yorkshire Norfolk Kent Cornwall Essex Worcestershire Sussex London Hampshire Hampshire Cheshire Dorset Yorkshire Ayrshire London Cornwall Kent Yorkshire Worcestershire Overseas

Under 30s Mr C Chamberlain Miss A Cotten-McKean Mr W De Feyter Mr K Franklin Mr W Mathias Miss L Pascoe Miss E Randle Mr J Roberts Mr J Street Mr C Wells

Oxfordshire Norfolk Norfolk Gloucestershire Surrey Wiltshire Worcestershire Warwickshire Shropshire Warwickshire

Associate Rt Revd A Magowan Dr M Oliver Mr J Salkeld Mrs C Stacey Rt Revd T Willmott

Shropshire Channel Islands London Kent Kent

Club Contacts THE FARMERS CLUB Over 160 years of service to farming 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL

Chairman 2014: Jimmy McLean

Chief Executive and Secretary: Air Commodore Stephen Skinner

Club Number 020 7930 3557 Reception ext: 200/201 reception@thefarmersclub.com Bedroom Reservations ext: 204 reservations@thefarmersclub.com Dining Room Reservations ext: 200/201 reception@thefarmersclub.com Meetings & Functions ext: 109 or direct line: 020 7925 7100 meetings@thefarmersclub.com Events & U30s ext: 103 events@thefarmersclub.com Club Manager ext: 102 clubmanager@thefarmersclub.com Head Chef ext: 111 or direct line: 020 7925 7103 chef@thefarmersclub.com Accounts ext: 106 or direct line: 020 7925 7101 accounts@thefarmersclub.com Membership ext: 107 or direct line: 020 7925 7102 membership@thefarmersclub.com PA to Secretary ext: 104 or direct line: 020 7930 3751 generaloffice@thefarmersclub.com Bedrooms ext: 3+ [two digit room number] eg. ext 301 for Room1 Whitehall Court Porters 020 7930 3160 Fax 020 7839 7864

Reciprocal Clubs UK City Livery Club, London (No bedrooms) Royal Overseas League, Edinburgh Royal Scots Club, Edinburgh The New Club, Edinburgh Northern Counties Club, Newcastle Note: We have informal agreements with the East India and Caledonian Club for bedroom bookings if we are full. Reception also holds a list of hotels within a 15 minute walk that might be considered ‘good value for money’.

OVERSEAS The Western Australian Club, Perth, Australia (Bedrooms not reciprocated) Queensland Club, Brisbane, Australia

The Australian Club, Melbourne, Australia Royal Dublin Society, Dublin, Ireland (Bedrooms not reciprocated) Stephen’s Green Hibernian Club, Dublin, Ireland The Muthaiga Country Club, Nairobi, Kenya The Harare Club, Harare, Zimbabwe The Christchurch Club, Christchurch, New Zealand (Closed due to earthquake damage) The Canterbury Club, Christchurch, New Zealand The Durban Club, Durban, South Africa

Website: www.thefarmersclub.com THE FARMERS CLUB JOURNAL Editor and Advertisement Manager: Charles Abel 07795 420692 E-mail: editor@thefarmersclub.com Designed and produced by: Ingenious, www.ingeniousdesign.co.uk The printing inks are made using vegetable based oils.

No film or film processing chemicals were used.

Printed on Lumi Silk which is ISO 14001 certified manufacturer.

FSC Mixed Credit. Elemental chlorine free (ECF) fibre sourced from well managed forests.

Members wishing to use any of the above Clubs should obtain an introductory card from the Secretariat. www.thefarmersclub.com • 23

Farmers Club

Events

Application forms included in this and future Journals

Visit to Orkney Tue 10th-Thu 12th June An opportunity for a closer look at the food, farming, history, wildlife and rural communities of Orkney

L L FU

Romeo & Juliet Ballet at the Royal Albert Hall Friday 20th June Supper at the Club and coach transfer to / from English National Ballet

Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

L L FU

Thursday 7th August Dinner in Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Westmoreland Show Thursday 11th September Drink reception, 5pm-6.30pm

Beethoven’s Ninth at Royal Albert Hall Royal Highland Show dinner at RBS Gogarburn Wednesday 18th June Dinner on the eve of the Royal Highland Show with guest speaker Sir Malcolm Rifkind KCMG, QC, MP

Royal Norfolk Show with RNAA (Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association)

Saturday 27th September Supper in the Club and coach transfer to/from the concert

Harvest Festival Service Tuesday 14th October Wonderful service with the choir at St Martin-in-the-Fields followed by Buffet Supper at the Club

Wednesday 25th June Drinks reception, 6pm-7pm

St. Andrew’s Day Lunch CLA Game Fair – Blenheim Palace Oxford Saturday 19th July Drinks reception, 5pm-6.30pm

Friday 28th November At RBS HQ, Gogarburn, Edinburgh

Statoil Masters Tennis at Royal Albert Hall Royal Welsh Show Monday 21st July Drinks reception, 5pm-6.30pm

Friday 5th December Supper in the Club with coach transfer to/from the tennis

SUMMER HOLIDAY OPENING AUGUST 9-24 specifically geared to the needs of leisure visitors to London.