Pendeen & Trenow Whitebred Shorthorns

By Pamela Charman


Five more Whitebred Shorthorns have travelled down to West Cornwall, joining the four that have already had great success conservation grazing part of the Penwith Moors near Pendeen. A registered Whitebred bull and two registered bulling heifers have been bought by Gerald and Anne Babcock, who own the four heifers already at Pendeen, in far West Cornwall. Two younger registered Whitebred Shorthorn heifers have been purchased by Karen Wall of Perranuthnoe. Karen hopes to use her heifers as 'house cows' and sell their calves to Gerald and Anne to join their Pendeen herd.

The bull and two heifers came from George and Ian Bell's Bloch herd and the other two heifers have been purchased from Gordon Gilligan's High Creoch herd, (both farms are situated within the Scottish borders).

This is what Gerald had to say:

"The conservation grazing abilities of the Whitebred Shorthorn and their appeal to our community has been outstanding. The heifers can be easily seen on the hillsides attracting great interest. They have opened up areas that have been impassible for over sixty years, great news for locals and visitors who come to walk on our moors. The breed's placid temperment and cute looks makes them very endearing to the general public. We will take them off the moor at the end of November and bring them home to have their first calves in the new year. We will return them to the moors when their calves are well grown and cudding. Past experience has taught me that grazing, cudding, well grown calves will lie out in the open, making themselves easy to find and count. Their mothers are much less protective at this stage, making things much safer for the general public. For the future development of the herd we hope to have Karen's registered calves, which my wife Anne will bucket rear to later join the progeny from our own six heifers.

Our controlled breeding plan using A.I. Spoutbank Gay Gordon did not work very well. One heifer took to the A.I. but the rest were sorted out by our Simmental bull! To avoid a repeat of this we have now acquired our own Whitebred Shorthorn bull from the Bloch herd. It has a different bloodlines from all of the heifers".

Anne and Gerald, together with Gerald's mother would like to take this opportunity to thank the Bell and Gilligan families for their wonderful hospitality, when they visited them last summer and since then, their help with starting a Whitebred Shorthorn herd in Cornwall.

To help the Whitebred Shorthorn breed, Karen has kindly appointed herself as Cornish press officer. She is busy contacting the local press promoting the breed. She hopes to get several Galloway breeders in the South West interested in the Whitebred Shorthorn, and start the production of the Blue Grey in the area. Above all Karen wants to help Gerald and Anne Babcock in their efforts to get their local community envolved in the development of the herd, in conservation grazing, which in turn brings biodiversity and its benefits to the Cornish wildlife.

Local walkers, horse riders, the tourist industry and the fragile West Penwith Rural Economy, will all eventually benefit from the Whitebred Shorthorn's presence on the West Cornwall's beautiful moors. A win - win situation for all!