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Reaseheath College wins at Cheshire Show

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Reaseheath College’s action packed exhibition was voted Best Outside Education Stand at this week’s Cheshire Show.

The Nantwich, Cheshire, college took top honours after judges gave it full marks for the enthusiasm of its staff and students and the diversity of activities it offered visitors.

High Sheriff of Cheshire Susan Sellers chats to florists

High Sheriff of Cheshire Susan Sellers chats to florists

Top crowd puller on the stand was a Caterpillar digger which gave visitors the chance to operate the controls to move golf balls and tyres. The digger was on loan from John Bownes of Winsford.

Families also enjoyed riding the college’s mechanical horse, tried boat building with construction students and watched ferret racing. Other activities, under the banner ‘Do Something Different’, included a climbing wall, a model cow which could be milked, a  horticultural quiz, a floristry demonstration, bird box making and a bakery demonstration. Animals from the college’s zoo and a student show garden were also on display.

VIP visitors to the stand included the High Sheriff of Cheshire Susan Sellers, who said: “I have been impressed with the breadth of activities, the knowledge and enthusiasm of staff and the obvious interest they are generating among members of the public.”

2Agriculture students Rebecca Harper, Kirsty Tailor, Liberty Turner and Lydia Diamond show youngstock from Reaseheath Holsteins

Agriculture students Rebecca Harper, Kirsty Tailor, Liberty Turner and Lydia Diamond show youngstock from Reaseheath Holsteins

Reaseheath agriculture students also celebrated success in the cattle show ring by gaining awards in the calf showing and young handler classes. Level 3 Extended Diploma in Agriculture students Rebecca Harper, Kirsty Tailor and Liberty Turner and Level 2 Diploma in Agriculture student Lydia Diamond showed heifers from the Reaseheath Holstein dairy herd.

Marketing Manager Glyn Ferriday said: “This has been a fantastic opportunity for us to demonstrate the range of vocational courses we offer. We are very proud of the success of our students and coming to the Cheshire Show each year gives us a great platform to show the public what we can do.”

To see what other shows we’ll be visiting this summer visit our ‘Reaseheath on the Road’ page.

 

Travel beckons for ambitious young farmers

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Rachel Billington and Simon Bonner receive their John Platt Travel Scholarships from Keith Thomas and Reaseheath Principal Meredydd David at the Cheshire Show.

Rachel Billington and Simon Bonner receive their John Platt Travel Scholarships from Keith Thomas and Reaseheath Principal Meredydd David at the Cheshire Show.

Two ambitious young farming entrepreneurs are looking forward to global travel thanks to a scholarship run by Reaseheath College and the Cheshire Agricultural Society.

Rachel Billington and Simon Bonner were presented with £2,000 John Platt Travel Scholarships during the Presidents Lunch at the Cheshire Show on Tuesday. Rachel will use her scholarship to help her gain a professional qualification from Leith’s School of Food and Wine, London, and has a long term plan to  eventually  run a cookery school which will promote British agriculture and the food chain, from field to fork. She will also use her award to travel to other farm diversification schemes.

The 25 year-old is a product development technologist with Goodlife Foods, Warrington, a food manufacturer for major retailers. She previously studied at Harper Adams University for a BSc (Hons) Degree in Agri-food, Marketing and Business Studies and is current lady chairman of Congleton Young Farmers Club. Her family have a dairy farm in Siddington near Macclesfield.

Rachel said: “I am delighted to receive the scholarship. It will give me a fantastic opportunity to learn new skills and to meet others who are successfully running on- farm diversification businesses.”

Simon, 26, is assistant herdsman at Bankhead Farm, Broxton, a 240 cow, autumn calving, pasture-based dairy farm on the Bolesworth Estate. He will use his scholarship to visit New Zealand and Ireland to compare pasture-based dairy systems with those in the UK, in particular examining the opportunities and constraints for wealth creation and profit from grass.

Simon has a BSc (Hons) Degree in Agriculture with Countryside Management and worked on dairy farms in New Zealand after graduating. He also spent a year with Rhys Williams, one of the UK’s leading exponents of milk production from grazed grass, who farms near Aberdaron in north west Wales.

Simon comes from Hale Barns, Altrincham, and has always wanted to farm although he does not have an agricultural background. He said: “It’s an honour to be awarded this scholarship. I plan to use the opportunity to enhance my knowledge of the pasture-based dairy industry and learn how to get the best from grass.”

The John Platt scholarship is in memory of John Platt, a former Chair of Reaseheath Governors and former Chairman, President and Honorary Life Warden of the Cheshire Agricultural Society.

Presenting the awards, Cheshire Show Director Keith Thomas said that both Rachel and Simon had been outstanding candidates and had shown the drive, ambition and desire to seek out new information and technology which would benefit the Cheshire farming community.

The John Platt Travel Scholarship is awarded annually and is open to young people from a rural background who live or work in Cheshire. Applications are being taken for next year.

For further details see www.reaseheath.ac.uk/john-platt-scholarship  or email davek@reaseheath.ac.uk