With most new ventures things evolve and change, we started in 2011 with 2 Highland cows in calf bought locally from a neighbour which produced one heifer and one bull calf, the heifer Elsie, is still on the Fold today. When it came round to putting the cows back in calf we decided to purchase a bull rather than go down the Artificial Insemination route. We purchased Dark Prince of Walton and ended up buying a number of heifers at the same time, as you do! Lilly, Peggy and Ellie. We joined the Highland Cattle Society and attended Sales in Oban along with starting to show our young stock. When viewing other breeders stock at the shows, it became apparent that we needed to improve our bloodlines. Purely by chance when visiting an Oban sale in 2014 we spotted a young bull calf that had been purchased by a hotel owner along with the cow. However, the hotel owner did not want the calf and so the vendor bought it back off him rather than let it be served at a later date for Hotel guests dinners! Through some negotiation, we purchased this bull calf and collected it at a service station on the M6 when visiting Cumbria. This was one of the best purchases we have made as Eoin Mhor 12th of Mottistone has turned out to be a stock bull of the highest quality. This addition to the Fold improved the quality of stock being produced and set us on a course of producing show winning cattle. We have continued to select and buy breeding cows based on well known breeding lines, to strengthen the female bloodlines as well as selecting the best of our homebred heifers for introduction into the breeding programme. Our home bred Eoin Mhor 5th of Harris (Huggy Bear) has been really influential in establishing our fold as a breeder of high quality stock, his size and temperament was superb and he was also very successful when coming under a range of HCS judges during three years of showing. More recently Ernie of Yarchester, by Black Prince from the Gilden Vale Fold, was purchased to breed with the offspring of Eoin Mhor 12th with the emphasis on producing larger framed animals. We also have a third bull bloodline, Alexander 1st of Harris, by another Mottistone bull, which has enabled us to grow the fold to over 40 animals with 20 breeding cows. The aim of Harris Fold is to produce quality, well-tempered Highland Cattle with the emphasis on a natural input. They are fed naturally on milk, grass and hay living in harmony with the local fauna. We are a Red Tractor certified producer and do have on occasions our home grown beef boxes for sale. We are currently looking into cross breeding with Aberdeen Angus to provide faster finishing beef animals, a sustainable way of helping to keep the finances in order. We handle our cattle from an early age to promote good temperament, quietness and ease of handling. We take great pride in exhibiting our animals in the show ring and also when welcoming visitors and customers to the fold. All of the stock are pedigree registered with the Highland Cattle society. We have had a number of successes in the show ring over the years. To mention a few: • Royal Highland Show June 2023 -Reserve Male Champion with home bred Eoin Mhor 5th of Harris; 3rd in the Beef cattle Interbreed pairs with Eoin Mhor 5th of Harris and Bannockburn’s Jaheeb Dhubh of Mohmar. • Oswestry August 2024- Male Beef Champion with Ernie of Yarchester • Bucks County Show August 2024 - Winner of the Group of 4 Interbreed Beef Group with a team of home bred Harris Fold cattle; Liberty Cup Award winner 2024 • Highland Cattle Society Large Show Fold Winners in 2022 and 2023.