The farm was purchased in 1954 – 360 acres mixed arable and river banks, initially running 60 Hereford cross sucklers and 80 halfbred ewes. From the 70’s 120 acres of summer grazing was rented and the herd expanded to 120 – 90 autumn calving and 30 spring. Dissatisfaction with the advent of Holstein blood into commercial sucklers pushed us in 1976 towards experimenting with Longhorn × Welsh Blacks as replacements. A few pedigree Longhorn females soon followed our first stock bull Winthill John, at which time there were in total only 150 breeding females with some 60 heifers a year being registered; the breeding herd now approaches 10,000. The LHWB cross proved to be capable of calving at two year old to the Charolais or Belgian Blue and in the late 80’s a Simmental bull was introduced so that the female offspring could be sold on for breeding. As had happened with the Longhorn a few pedigree Simmental females soon followed. By the turn of the century Simmental numbers had expanded to the extent that the commercial cross-bred herd had gone and we were running with only pedigrees – 80 Simmentals and 40 Longhorns.
The Longhorn herd was rapidly put on the map winning the Royal Show Female Championship no less than 11 times out of 15 years between 1981 and 1995. Fishwick bloodlines have since provided a foundation for the successful expansion of the breed to nearly 12,000 females over the next quarter century.
The History of Bloodlines at Fishwick
Our foundation sires were, effectively, Rousham Goliath and Glaven Alliance. It is fair to say that between them they have put the herd and the breed where it is today – the vast majority of prize winners over the past 25 years have carried Goliath and/or Alliance blood. Goliath bred fabulous females that have proved to be prepotent matrons of the breed, although that is not to say that our foundation cows – Eyebrook Rachel, Grendon Dulci, Grendon Wendy and Shugborough Campion – have not played a hugely significant part. Rachel was flushed to give us Daydream, who, put to Goliath, gave us Galaxy and Fantasy, 5 consecutive times Yorkshire Champion and mother of Mirage – cornerstone with Lark (Shugborough Drake x Gambol) of Southfield genetics – and Kinsman, who, by Alliance, put the backsides into the breed. Meanwhile Galaxy produced the unfortunately underused Mercury (by Fishwick Kascade) and Legend (by Drake), and also Germany’s super-matriarch Karisma, by Alliance. Dulci produced Gambol, Hawthorn and Kristal, all stars in their own right, whilst Wendy gave us Goldie who delivered Optimist (by Longrove Resolve) and Kosmic (by Alliance). In turn Campion mothered Marigold and Nightshade, both by Goliath. Nightshade has been an outstanding influence at Blackbrook along with Kestrel, Kristal (both by Alliance) Natasha (by Kascade).
Outwith the Fishwick herd we have tried to make use of Rousham Kite, a heifer that we sadly spurned the chance to buy in 1986. Kite has had a colossal influence within the breed and it is a pity that we were never able to see her bloodline merged with Shuborough Drake, Over the past two decades numerous bulls have played a significant role in developing the herd – we try to keep our bloodlines as diverse as is commensurate with breeding powerful but feminine females alongside growthy wellmuscled bulls. Par Grace Dieu Two Tone, Charnwood United, Carreg Cennen and Bollin Eugene have probably been the most influential but more recently Underknoll Legend and Blackbrook Nonsuch have played a valuable part. For the future we hope that Lord of the Rings and Macavity – perhaps aided and abetted by Heronbrook Ned Kelly and the newly purchased Treverton Pilgrim – will do for the breed what Llantrothy Kestrel and Fishwick Kinsman combined to do in the 90’s; combining stretch, power and thickness to take the breed forward to a new dimension.