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Winter 2012 MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY -KEEPING NEW YEAR!

INSIDE THIS ISSUE We launch a search for the world’s oldest Tamworth. Do you have a favourite sow or boar which might qualify?

Ordered your 2013 Tamworth Breeders’ Club Did you remember to pay your subscription? If not, please calendar yet? send your cheque for £15 to the club secretary (contact de- See page 3 for tails on the back page). Avoid forgetting next year - make details a New Year resolution to set up a standing order (see p3). 2 A view from the chair - with Bill Howes

I can't believe it's more than 12 months since I was elected as chair- man! In October, we held our Annual General Meeting at Boyton Farm, the home of our president, Caroline Wheatley Hubbard. The famous Berkswell Herd of Tamworths is celebrating its 90th year - what an achievement! This herd has provided a firm foundation for many other herds, including ours. I think it's fairly safe to say that the Tam- worth breed wouldn't be in the healthy position it is today without the Wheatley Hubbard family. Long may it continue.

At the AGM we welcomed Stuart Roberts, Jodie Fairclough, and Emily Brown onto Com- mittee. I hope that Emily will help raise the profile of the younger generation of pig keep- ers in general and Tamworths in particular. It would be good if we could have a regular page written by young pig keepers. Liz Shankland did not stand for re-election onto com- mittee but will continue to edit the Trumpet. Thanks Liz.

Lunch was at the Ginger Piggery, Caroline’s farm shop and restaurant. It was excellent, with the best bread and butter pudding we'd ever tasted.

After lunch we all piled into cars and went to view the Berkswell . They were up on the top of the hill with spectacular views over the Wiltshire landscape. Most of the pigs were up there free ranging in the mud, and we picked out a good few potential show winners! Thank you Caroline for a really lovely day.

I'd like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous 2013. Bill

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Make every day a Tamworth day!

This is just what you need to jot down all those important dates like when your sows were served or when they are due to farrow! Thanks to the hard work of our secretary Michele Baldock and some talented snappers in the club, we are offering the first Tamworth Breed- ers’ Club calendar for sale.

Priced at just £9.99, plus £2 postage, it’s the perfect thing to hang on the wall of your kitchen, study or barn – and a lovely gift for anyone with a passion for pigs. Or- der your copy by getting in touch with Michele - contact details are on p16.

If you’re proud to be a Tamworth owner, why not let everyone know? We have a new range of club merchandise available , including polo shirts (left), ties, fleeces, and car stick- ers. Contact Michele for a full list and details of colours, sizes, and prices.

SUBSCRIPTIONS – A GENTLE REMINDER

Annual membership remains at just £15 per household and 2013 subscriptions are now due. If you joined the club via our new Paypal facility, a recurring payment should have been set up at the time. Please check to ensure this will be processed. You may also pay by cheque to the secretary’s address. If you prefer to set up a standing order (payable on Oc- tober 1 each year), please use your surname as a reference.

The account details are: Bank: Santander; account number: 64306185; sort code: 09 01 55. 4

Ground clearance...Tamworth-style Since 2009 we have been using our Valstock Herd as a method of bracken clearance on Exmoor. At pre- sent, we run about 10 breeding females and far too many boars (five)! Most of the offspring are finished on the farm and sold through various outlets. Kemps Farm is predominately a single-suckle unit with some good Somerset grazing land. We have 130 acres of steep, north facing hill land which has gorse, bracken some rough grazing. On a large pro- portion of this area, it is not possible to get onto with a tractor - and some of it is quite scary even on a quad-bike. We are trying, over time, to improve and re-seed the area to give better cattle grazing.

The pigs play their part by attacking the bracken. We’ve been working initially on an area of about five acres. This is split into small paddocks of between half and three quarters of an acre in size. Each pad- dock is fenced with wooden stakes and stock netting, but, as the rooting becomes more advanced, certain pigs in certain paddocks need the extra security of a single strand of electric fence.

We have tried all ages of stock, but good, strong weaners seem to have the biggest impact on the bracken; they are more active and continually turn the soil over. We had quite disastrous results when we tried farrowing sows in the bracken, with more piglets being laid on and even some young piglets completely disappearing. We’re not sure whether they simply got lost or were taken by a fox or something else. So now all our sows are farrowed indoor or on grass paddocks nearer the farm.

The pigs get some nutritional value from their ac- tivities in the bracken, but we still give them feed normal rations every day. The sows have 16% pro- BEFORE. The weaners begin their assault on the bracken tein rolls thrown into the bracken for encourage- ment, and the growing pigs have 18% protein nuts, thrown on the surface in dry weather or served in troughs if conditions get wet. Fortunately, we have a series of good clean springs, one of which we have been able to divert into a storage tank which leads a piped water supply to each paddock. 5 By Andrew and Emily Brown of the Valstock Herd

The best way to attack bracken seems to be to hit it hard with 15 to 20 store pigs per paddock, giving each paddock several rests throughout the first year. The pigs’ rooting action firstly destroys the bracken fronds and then brings the rhizomes to the surface in order for the sun – and, more importantly the win- ter frost - to act upon them. This is not sufficient to clear the bracken and some will return the following spring, although not with such strong growth.

In the second year we have a group of pigs continuously in each paddock. We don’t think the pigs really want to eat the rhi- zomes – which contain some toxins - they are simply looking for other morsels within the earth, breaking the surface and inad- vertently bringing the root system up. Containing the pigs can be a problem on our stony terrain, as it is difficult to erect a A group of young Tamworths busy doing what they do best ! good stock proof fence - hence the occa- sional need for an electric fence. Due to remoteness, moving pigs in and out of the paddocks is difficult in bad weather. We have to walk them some distance to a level track to load them, although we walk the older sows all the way to the farm - about ½ a mile – a journey which includes a short distance along a public road!

We have encountered bracken poisoning in some pigs. When poisoned by bracken, a pig’s thyroid gland works less efficiently, and the pig becomes short of Vitamin B1 (thiamine). Usually we have managed to save the pigs with vitamin injections. It doesn’t affect all the pigs, but will randomly select odd ones out of a group, regardless of age. The first signs are often that the pigs lose energy and their “get up and go”. They will come to the feed, begin AFTER. And what a fantastic job they did! eating and then go and lie down. If we catch them at this stage, it is usually treatable.

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My first time – and I loved it! At the 2011 Royal Cornwall Show, I was dismayed to see only one Tamworth pig exhibited, and then found out that Devon County had no Tamworths put forward. Speaking to one of the stewards I realised that the numbers had been declining for several years in this part of the country. I have kept Tamworth pigs for seven years but had never shown them before. My stock were becoming quite old and were almost past breeding. To invigorate my herd I bought two Ruby weaners from Virginia Selby in Hayling Island; an in-pig Golden Rose gilt from Bill Howes; and a seven month old Golden Ball boar from Tony Lloyd in Devon. The old stock were culled. After seeing Bill and Shirley’s kitchen walls and barn cov- ered in rosettes, I began to get excited about showing. It takes time to build up your herd, and I did not have any of my own stock that were eligible for 2012 boar or gilt class. However, earlier this year I bought two beautiful January gilts and two boar weaners from Phil and Helen Soward in Devon . I had one sow, Stoneymoor Golden Rose 51 (Bambi) who I intended to show in the sow class. But, the day before the show, I had a crisis of con- fidence about our ability to show five pigs. I decid- ed not to take Bambi because she had lost her coat after a May farrowing and had one teat that was four times the size of the others; she is usually a stunning pig so it was not doing her justice in her less than magnificent state. We have a farm and my husband was unable to come to the show for the full three days so my lovely cousin, Sharron Swann, and her daughter, Rebecca, volunteered to help with the showing. My sister-in-law Sharon Barclay also came to help us get organised , exercise the pigs and offer sup- port. The stewards were initially a little bemused about three ladies showing for the first time with four Tamworths (including two boars). I caught a few glances passing between them! Fortunately, the rain stayed away during the interbreed We spent time on Wednesday and Thursday prac- final. tising walking with the pigs and planning our team tactics. Luckily, all my pigs have regular human contact and are quite amenable to being handled, and I had been using the board and stick to train them prior to the show. They also love being shampooed and appreci- ated the warm shower facilities laid on for the pigs. Other pig exhibitors were really friendly, welcoming and interested in us. At Royal Cornwall Show there is a pig men’s tent where they serve three meals a day and tea or coffee and biscuits all day, so lots of socialising goes on. On Wednesday, the weather was terrible, with torrential rain and gales. Rain came in the tent and soaked clothes and bedding. 7

By Angela Andrews of the Trenithick Herd The next day, we watched the exhibits in the modern breed classes, hoping to try to learn the ropes from experienced exhibitors. I noticed that my January gilt, Crayford Jacqueline 2 (Alice), was unable to walk very well, and this got worse as the day went on. The show vet was called and suggested an injury, so I decided not to show her.

Thursday night we slept in the trailer because the tent had blown away, and we had little sleep because of the high winds and torrential rain. They were also evacuating 1,200 from the marquee next to the pigs because it threatened to collapse. There was talk of the show being cancelled. I got up at 5.30am, after only a few hours rest, to find several pigs had escaped from their pens and were wandering around the pig area! Luckily, not mine! We spent the rest of the show with two evacuated Suffolk rams in the next pen!

Friday morning brought the traditional breed classes - and we were on! Lots of friends and family came out in the terrible weather to see us show. A nice steward helped us to show the two boars in the male champi- Showing January-born pigs is a great way of keeping fit, as on class (two handlers per boar required). Angela discovered! I had begun to get very nervous and I thought my eight-month-old boar might not behave - but it was actually the younger boar that was rather lively. I was awarded a first in all the classes entered, as well as male and female breed champion. There were lots of ro- settes and a china plate for breed champion. My darling Trenithick Golden Rose 07 (Saffron) beat her litter brother Trenithick Yorkshireman 06. I was particularly pleased because I was keeping her. My local newspa- per came to take photos and interviewed me about my herd! On the Saturday, Saffron was in the interbreed class against some really stunning pigs. I took her into the ring, but all she wanted to do was walk over to where my husband was standing as a spectator! Then my boar misbehaved in the Pig of the Year qualifier heat (although he was not the worst offender in the ring) and ran between my husband’s legs. almost knocking him over. We didn’t win any further prizes! During the show we met some Tamworth pig breeders that we had not come into contact with before and have agreed to organise a social meeting of South Devon/Cornwall Tamworth breeders. We also spoke to many members of the public about the breed and collected several names of people interested in weaners from us. A huge thank you to everyone who gave support and encouragement to me to take the step. It has been more fun than I could have thought possible.

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Traditional Tamworth treats

Club member Virginia Selby kindly shared her fantastic recipe for paté , based on one by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. This is just perfect if you’re entertaining over the Christmas period. PORK LIVER PATÉ

Ingredients 1.5 kg pork liver 500 g minced sausage meat 2 large onions, finely chopped 1 kg or more streaky , rindless 150 ml port 150 ml brandy 2 tablespoons double cream 300 g breadcrumbs (more or less if mix too wet) 1 heaped tablespoon each of sage and thyme 1 teaspoon mace ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper 1.5 teaspoons each of ground black pepper and salt 150 g pistachio nuts, blitzed or chopped to make them a bit smaller 150 g blitzed or chopped dried cranberries – ideally not the sweetened kind

Method Line rectangular loaf baking tins with 1 kg streaky bacon rashers Blitz liver in food processor until it looks like very thick mud Mix everything together – shouldn’t be too runny, more like a thick paste Fill to top of baking tins, should fill two large loaf tins. Fold over bacon ends. Cover with a double layer of buttered foil Bake in large roasting dish with water all around base of baking tin at 160 degrees for 1 hour 25 minutes. Cool in baking tins with weights on top, eg. tins baked beans or soup. Turn out when pate completely cold – briefly warm outside of tin to loosen.

Flavour develops best after 2 or 3 days unfrozen in fridge. Freezes well.

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MARMALADE GAMMON

“Although this recipe looks quite time consuming, it’s not too bad and the taste is definitely worth it,” says club secretary Michele. “This is my stand- ard meal when we have friends round for dinner and invariably ends up with us stood around picking at the scrum- my marmalade-covered crunchy fatty covering whilst I’m trying to carve the rest of the joint. Serves 10 people, with enough left to make a tasty lunch the following day served in crusty bread.”

Ingredients 3 bay leaves 1 jar good quality thin rind marmalade 3-4kg middle cut gammon on the bone 2 oranges 16 black peppercorns couple of sprigs of freshly picked 2 carrots, roughly chopped 2 tbsp sea salt 1 leek chopped in half rosemary leaves 2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped freshly ground black Sprig of fresh thyme pepper

Place the gammon in a large, but snug stock pot and cover in water. Add your roughly chopped veg, bay leaves and peppercorns. Peel the zest and juice the oranges and add to the water with the salt. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and allow to simmer for an hour and 15 minutes with the lid on. Take the pot off the heat but leave the joint to sit in the broth and cool for half an hour. After half an hour take the meat out onto a board, discard the veg. Once cooled the remaining stock can be frozen for later and used making soups. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas 3. Use a knife to remove the skin. Obviously, using a piece of fabulous Tamworth gammon, you’ll have a lovely layer of fat. Leave about 1cm (1/2 inch). Any excess can be saved for roasting potatoes in. Roughly score the meat on the joint into diamonds and season well with the ground black pepper. Roast for 20mins or so, so that the fat just begins to render and crisp up, then remove from the oven. Stir the marmalade into a paste and smear it all over the meat, then add the rosemary leaves and return to the oven for an hour, basting often, so the fat becomes lovely and crisp. Serve with roasted Mediterranean veg and roast potatoes. 10 Showing goes on – whatever the weather

Springtime soon comes around and with it the show schedules start to drop through the door. Our first show of the season is Newark and Notts in May. This year, we en- tered two sows, Raisinhall Melody 8 (Gaynor) and Raisinhall Melody 11 (Harriet). We also entered Raisinhall Royal Standard 6 (Joshua) and two Hampshire sows.

The classes start on Saturday morning. Tamworths don’t have their own breed classes at Newark and can be a bit on the confusing side as to when your class will be! Gaynor and Harriet went in their class and to our amaze- ment Harriet won and Gay- nor was second. Joshua was next to be shown. It is al- ways difficult with young- sters as they have never ex- perienced anything like a How a Raisinhall show pig looks prior to being preened for a show! show before and sometimes no amount of practice at home makes a difference when they actually get in the ring. Joshua’s first showing experience was one of these occasions, he was rather excited and spent a lot of time trotting round the ring at first. He settled down eventually and was placed fourth.

Although there are no separate breed classes all the breeds have their own champion- ship. We were delighted when Harriet was awarded Tamworth Champion. This meant that she would go on to the overall championships the next day against all the other breed champions. Also Joshua would go on to the Pig of the Year qualifier the next day as he was the highest place Tamworth boar. 11 By Jodie Fairclough of the Raisinhall Herd

Sunday morning we prepared Joshua and Harriet for their championships. Joshua was more relaxed and seemed to have settled in to being at a show. He went out for a little walk early in the morning and was quite happy. Our daughter Charlotte was showing Har- riet and she did a lovely job. Harriet looked well, the sun shining on her ginger coat. To our utter amazement Harriet was chosen as interbreed champion! Fantastic result for us and the breed. We were so proud. Next was Joshua’s turn in the Pig of the Year qualifier. We had no expectations at all., but he was chosen as Best Traditional Boar and qualified for Pig of the Year. July came and time for the Great

Yorkshire Show and Pig of the Year final. We arrived on the

Monday to a very soggy show- ground. We did well in the breed classes. Raisinhall Melody 14

(Imogen) was second in the sow class, Courtbleddyn Glen 85A

(James) was second in the senior boar class, and Joshua also came second. We also won the group of three Tamworths. Jodie’s daughter Charlotte in the ring with Harriet

On Tuesday afternoon, after our classes had finished, there was a torrential downpour which resulted in an already waterlogged showground becoming absolutely saturated. The organisers decided to cancel the show to the public. Panic set in then. Perhaps we wouldn’t actually get to go forward to the Pig of the Year final now. Thankfully, Wednes- day’s classes continued as planned – but sadly without an audience. Joshua wasn’t placed in the final ,but for us to have even got there in the first place was a huge achievement and a very proud moment.

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Is this the oldest Tamworth?

We are launching a search to find the world’s oldest Tamworth! We all know that some- times there is that one special sow who escapes being sent away for culling at the end of her reproductive days. So, do you have a lovely old lady in your herd? Let us know by emailing [email protected] We’ll publish pictures in the spring.

Princess, pictured happily rooting about, will be 14 years old in January. 13 Still living happily at 15 - my Aussie Princess Alison Jenkins from Omeo, North East Victoria, in Australia, sent us the picture on the opposite page which gave us the idea to find out whether there are even older Tamworths happily living out their days. This is what she told us:

“I have an unregistered 13-year-old old maiden Tamworth – Princess - who is a very spoiled pet. We live in Australia in extreme weather conditions, she has survived several bushfires and yearly snow falls. She is doing really well and I was curious as to how long she will live. Her mother – whom I hand-reared - died from pneumonia when she was 12.

“Princess was born in January 1999, one of a litter of eight. Her grandmother won Grand Reserve Champion Rare Breeds Tamworth Sow at the Royal Melbourne Show during 1998. She stands 96cm high, her girth is 170cm, her length from snout to start of tail is 211cm, and her estimated weight is 440 Kilos. She is very solid and seems shorter and wider around the jowls in comparison to some Tamworths.

“This geriatric Tammy is very spoiled and has her own house, in which she spends a lot of time snoring loudly. When awake, she keeps active by creatively ploughing and driving everyone mad for attention! She is very gentle, intelligent, has a great personality, grunts a lot, and doesn’t mind giving children a ride.

“We haven’t had any major health issues, with the exception of slight cracks in trotters from time to time – and she does have a few warts these days. I have been told that one Tammy over here lived until she was 15!”

OAPs (Old Age PIGS!)

Domestic pigs can live an average of 10 to 15 years, but there have been some remarkable exceptions. The current holder of the title of World’s Old- est Pig is Baba (right), a 26-year-old sow in Romania. She is said to have given birth to more than 500 piglets in her lifetime and has so many fans, she has her own Facebook page! 14 MEMBERS’ ADVERTISEMENTS For a trial period, we are offering members the chance to advertise their stock or Tamworth products for just £20 per 1/4 page (approx).

Fairview Ginger Pigs

Pedigree Tamworth pigs in the south-east

Birth noti- fied weaners, registered

breeding stock & boar for hire.

Contact Michele:

07879 697792/01233 730891

The prize-winning Tudful Herd Stoneymoor Tamworth Pigs

of pedigree Tamworths Pedigree Quality registered breeding stock and meat weaners from the herd awarded Tamworth Tamworths Champion of Champions two years running. in the

Midlands

Weaners, in-pig gilts, and boars

Buy with confidence. Free after-sales advice from usually available Liz Shankland, author of the Haynes Pig Manual and Haynes Smallholding Manual. Bill & Shirley Howes Email [email protected] or Telephone: 02476 466117 call 07846 449023 www.biggingerpigs.com 15

PLACING AN ADVERTISEMENT

Revenue received from advertising and sponsorship is extremely important to us, as it helps further the work of the club, for the benefit of the Tamworth breed, and of owners, too Please support us by taking an advertisement for your herd, or your pig-related business. Do pass our details on to other relevant suppliers who may be interested in promoting their goods or services here. If you would like to advertise your herd – or a pig-related business – in a future issue of the Tamworth Trumpet, please get in touch with our secretary, Michele Baldock, for details. Email [email protected]

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY January 2013

Please ensure that you complete and return your breed surveys as soon as possible – the deadline is January 31, 2013. It’s important for the British Pig Association to have an accurate idea of numbers of each bloodline.

April 14, 2013

A club workshop will be held for the first time in south Wales, at Bar- bara Warren’s farm near Pontypool. The workshop will cover topics in- cluding choosing stock, showing, breeding, tattooing, birth notification and registration, choosing piglets which meet the breed standard. There will be practical demonstrations and discussions. Bring your own lunch, tea. Coffee and biscuits will be provided.

£10 per person for members, £15 non-members. All proceeds will go towards club funds. Spaces are limited so book with the secretary by ringing 07879 697792/01233 730891 or contact Barbara direct on 01495 755557. 16

www.tamworthbreedersclub.co.uk

Club news from Michele Baldock

It’s been quite a year! Over the past few months, we have developed the club’s own Facebook page and Twitter account – so you can keep up with the latest club news.

The club now also has a range of merchandise available for you to order, including beanie hats to fleeces to keep you toasty this winter, not to mention the club calendar to see you into 2013 with pictures supplied by breeders around the UK.

As well as handling the club administration, I completed my first export of Tamworth pigs to the Nether- lands! Several people have imported unrelated pigs this year, so I look forward to the Tamworth breed go- ing from strength to strength on the continent. The process was initially very daunting - from the arrival of the long application form and even larger accompanying guidance notes on how to complete said form! In the end. aside from a minor panic on the morning of the vet’s visit (the certificate had not been forwarded to him by the centre for animal exports at Carlisle), the process was not too difficult, and I would encour- age any members who receive enquiries from Europe for good quality stock to consider it.

It was nice to see so many members at the AGM. We enjoyed a thankfully dry autumn day visiting Caro- line’s vast herd and had an interesting insight into the breeding of her pigs. Thank you to all those who do- nated raffle prizes. The Points Cup was awarded to the Stoneymoor Herd. The results were: 1st Stonemoor Herd (304 points); 2nd Valstock Herd (280 points) 3rd Raisinhall Herd (189 points). There were several new faces who submitted their totals this year and we hope that they have caught the showing bug and will be out again next year. The Tamworth Breeders’ Club Champion of Champions contest will again be held at the Royal County of Berkshire Show in Newbury, on September 21/22.

With the hike in feed prices, it will be a relief to get my latest batch of finished pigs off just before Christ- mas - a few less mouths to feed. Meanwhile, my boar has gone off to the Knepp Castle estate until the New Year, to explore 1,200 acres of rewilded Sussex countryside containing seven Tamworth sows.

Merry Christmas & best wishes for a drier 2013! MICHELE

CONTACT DETAILS: Michele Baldock at Fairview Farmhouse, Ruckinge, Ashford, Kent, TN26 2NT Call 01233 730891/ 07879 697792 or email [email protected]