Report from the EFA meeting.
The BHSMA hosted the EFA excursion this year in April. Based at the Holiday Inn at
Cambridge.
Where seventy-two members and associates joined in 3 days of excursions, topped off with
evening entertainment.
On Wednesday evening everyone arrived, and we held the EFA AGM, followed by
dinner and a few drinks in the bar.
Our first visit of the day was to G M Hunters at Tilbrook Grange, where we were
shown the Tilbrook Herd of Devon cattle, the herd was established in 1960 and since
then the Hunter family have had great success in showing and selling breeding stock
all over the world. They really did look fantastic.
We moved on to T Brown & Son’s enterprise of seed production, where they grow sixteen
different combinable crops. Mainly grass seed.
It was very interesting how they managed weed control, especially the blackgrass.
From there we went to Farrington Oil Ltd, Where Duncan Farrington gave us a
guided tour of his rapeseed oil production plant. The end product being marketed
under the Mellow Yellow label of pure rape oil and salad dressings, which is being
sold in leading supermarkets, such as Waitrose and Sainsburys, and many more
retailers across the UK and abroad.
This was followed by a pub lunch before we moved onto Agri Bale.
Doug Price had set up a great little show of baling related trade stands, where we
were able to talk to the string and net wrap manufacturers and look at the latest
contracting kit, such as balers, chasers, and accumulators. We were also able to
display the new AgriPro LineMaster. All under one roof at his magnificent new workshop and office facility.
We had some great feedback from the delegates, as it was something new and a bit
different from what had been done in the past.
The dinner on the Thursday evening was held at The Quay Mill.
This was complimented by a very successful Race Night, compared by the one and
only Philip Judge, who, with his quick wit and larger than life personality, made it a
great success. We raised £2,136 for the Air Ambulance, with everyone giving very generously.
On Friday we headed up to the English Whisky Distillery in Norfolk to learn how to
make whisky.
Set up and run by the Nelstrop family, who have a passion for single malt whisky, not
only are they making the best single malt whisky in England, it is in fact the best
single malt whisky in the world. Picking up the gold medal for the best single malt
whisky in the world 2024.
They also provided us with a fantastic light lunch, before we moved up to Snetterton,
the home of LOTUS Cars.
Here we were given a very in-depth tour of the classic Lotus race cars by a
gentleman who not only knew and worked with Colin Chapman but also knew the
racing drivers of that era personally, some of which were killed in their quest to
become motor racing champions in the cars that were in the collection.
Many of the iconic F1 cars going back to Colin Chapman's first F1 race cars in 1958
right up to 1994 were on display in the collection.
When you looked up you could see the pictures of some of the greatest racing
drivers in the world who had driven for the Norfolk based Lotus Team.
Drivers such as John Surtees, Jim Clark, Mario Andretti, Ayrton Senna, and Nigel
Mansel, to name just a few.
The Friday evening dinner was held at The Bedford Lodge Hotel, with music to
follow.
Saturday is always optional, as many like to head home.
We had twenty-five people join us at Claydon Drills manufacturing plant at Wickhambrook,
where Jeff Claydon and his family showed us around the very successful family run
business, just another example of a family farm diversifying and making a product
that is now selling worldwide.
This was followed by a hog roast lunch, which concluded the 3 days of visits.
I would like to thank those who gave up their time and put a lot of effort into making
this a success. Graham and Jane Lawman, Doug and Polly Price, Philip Judge, Justin Long,
and April Gingell, to name just a few of you who worked so hard to make it all
happen.
I would also like to thank the members who supported the event. I hope you had a
good time.
Teamwork is the key, and I believe if we all work as a team, the BHSMA can make a
big difference in our industry.
Report By Paddy Reed, President, BHSMA, 2024