Open Days

2022 OPEN DAY The 2022 Welsh Mountain Sheep Society Open Day will be held under the auspices of the Meirion branch in Cae Poeth, Cwm Cynllwyd, Llanuwchllyn, Bala, on Saturday 1st October 2022 at 1:00pm, courtesy of Glyn and Awena. The sharing of vehicles should be attempted where appropriate as the road and access to the location is very limited. To reach Cae Poeth you will have to pass through the village of Llanuwchllyn, over a bridge towards Dinas Mawddwy. There will be signs on the road for you to follow and we ask everyone to park on the Rhyd-y-Bod farm fields (with thanks for their permission). You will have to walk down the field to the small bridge over the river Twrch and walk up towards the Cae Poeth yard. If this is a problem it will be possible to get transport from the field to the yard using an appropriate vehicle. Cae Poeth is a 215 acer farm starting at 800ft above sea level and rising to 2000 feet. There are 260 ewes and 80 yearlings. Lambing percentage was 150% for last season. All ewes in the flock are put to a Welsh Mountain ram and 50 acers is grassland and the rest is unimproved habitat land. There are 6 rams in the flock and the whole flock is part of the Hybu Cig Cymru EBV scheme. The flock will be shown in the surrounding fields and also in the sheds. Light refreshments will be provided by Cig Oen Aran. How to get there - download directions. Due to Covid-19 unfortunately we were not able to hold an open day in 2020 or 2021. We trust that we would hold an open day in September 2022. 2019 OPEN DAY The 2019 Welsh Mountain Sheep Society Open Day was hosted by the Ceredigion County branch at Tynant, Talybont, Aberystwyth, on Saturday 21st September 2019, courtesy of Dilwyn, Marion, Rhydian, Elgan and their families. The family farms 2,600 acres in total with the farmyard measuring 650 feet above sea level and rising up to 1750 feet to the highest point of the Farm and on the farm we saw Capel Bethesda, Tynant; a service is held here once a month during the Summer season. They won the All-Wales Big Bale Competition in 2014 from the Welsh Grassland Society and also received the reserve prize in 2019. The flock includes 2000 ewes plus 450 ewe lambs each year. 500 sheep are crossed with Texel and Primera rams to produce fat lambs. The sun was shining and a thorough organizing made the day a great success. Mr Huw Davies, Llety Ifan Hen, Chairman of the Ceredigion Branch, welcomed the crowd of over one hundred and fifty and handed over to Mr Elgan Evans Tynant. A 13-mile agricultural & cultural tour of the farm and through the remote uplands of the Talybont area in several tractors and trailers. Firstly we saw the winter rootcrop fields where the sheep are turned to after scanning, then on to Mynydd Uchaf to see 450 ewe lambs. There we also saw members of the Ceredigion branch working Welsh Dogs. Then we went on and through the uplands of Cwm Ceulan to Bwlchygarreg and saw Welsh Black Cattle rearing Charolais calves and Welsh Mountain Sheep in their natural habitat and past several ruins. We drove via Nantycagl Lake, through Cyneiniog forest to see the male lambs. It is customary to sell the fat lambs grass-fed only to Dunbia through the Cambrian Mountains Lamb scheme. This ensures delicious meat. The small railway line of the Hafan was seen leading down to the old Bwlch Glas lead mine before reaching the Welsh Mountain Sheep at Bwlch Glas. We returned to the yard around 4:30 for a feast of roast mountain lamb, a cup of tea, cake and a chat. The day was concluded by the Chairman of the five Counties, Mr David Evans, Penyglog. 2018 OPEN DAY The society’s Open Day for 2018 will be held under the auspices of the Montgomery county branch on the farm of G Roberts, Glanhafon Uchaf, Llangynog, Oswestry SY10 0HL on Saturday 29th September 2018 at 1.00pm. In contrast to our usual open days, three members will hold this year’s event on the one farm. Mr Roberts and his son Emrys will be joined at Glanhafon Uchaf by Phil Morgan, Glanhafon Fach, Llangynog SY10 0EW and Geraint Evans, Tŷ Mawr, Llangynog SY10 0HD. Glanhafon Uchaf extends to some 300 acres and supports a flock of 500 Welsh Mountain ewes with 60 being crossed with a Charollais ram. 20 Welsh Mountain rams are retained with th emajority of finished lambs being sold through the market at Oswestry. 500 ewes are kept pure at Glanhafon Fach a farm that is around 450 acres in size. A Charollais ram is crossed with another 150 Welsh Mountain sheep that can be sold as couples in Ruthin in May. Mr Morgan also keeps a herd of 20 suckler cows that are crossed with a Belgian Blue. Ty Mawr supports a flock of 1,300 ewes with 700 maintained pure with the rest being crossed with a Charollais ram. The three will display a cross section of their flocks with 30 ewes, 30 yearlings and 30 ewe lambs on display, together with stock rams, yearling rams and ram lambs. 2017 OPEN DAY 2016 SOCIETY OPEN DAY This year’s Society Open Day will be held under the auspices of the Denbighshire County Branch at Cwmgeifr and Blaencwm, Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog on Saturday 1 October 2016, at 1.00pm by kind permission of Glyn & Lynne Jones, Elgan & Cathy, Gethin & Sara and their two daughters Annes & Glesni Mai. Members should first meet at Blaencwm at 1.00pm promptly please before moving on to Cwmgeifr at 2.30pm. Blaencwm is some three and a half miles up from the village of Llanarmon DC. Turn left in the village square by the Hand Public House if coming down from the direction of Llanrhaeadr YM along a narrow and windy road, or turn to the right at the square if coming up the B4500 from the direction of Chirk and carry on along another narrow road, Swch Cae Rhiw. There will be direction signs to help you but do not stop at Cwmgeifr, but carry on for a further mile before turning to the left after passing an old chapel on your right to go to Blaencwm which is another mile up the valley. Blaencwm is the last farm along that road. The road will still be narrow and you should be careful to avoid accidents. Blaencwm’s yard is some 1,300 feet above sea-level in Cwm Llawenog, Dyffryn Ceiriog. The farm rises to 2,600 feet to the top of Cader Bronweh, which is on the Berwyn range. It extends to 1,500 acres with a further 200 acres of grazing land on Blaenglyn Mountain. A flock of 1,200 ewes is kept with 250 of them crossed with Texel rams: a herd of some 20 Welsh Black Cattle is managed there as well. Ewes, yearling ewes and ewe lambs as well as stock rams will be shown at Blaencwm. In Cwmgeifr, the yard is about 1,200 feet above sea- level and a flock of some 1,000 Welsh ewes are kept with 300 cross-bred breeding ewes. The Welsh Mountain flock grazes on the mountain at Tarw ar Swch, which between them extend to 1,500 acres and rise to 2,200 feet. Another 200 acres of improved land and 600 acres of rented land at Pentre Pant are used to produce silage and cross bred ewes and younger cattle are managed there. 350 of the Welsh Mountain ewes at Cwmgeifr are crossed with Charollais and Cheviot rams. At Cwm Geifr, we will be able to view the stock rams, yearling rams and rams lambs as well as the un- weaned ewe lambs and their mothers, as well as yearling and other ewes. The ewe lambs will be sorted in a way that will enable identification of their sire. Some of the finished lambs from both farms are sold dead-weight, either to Randall Parker at Llanidloes or to Dunbia at Llanybyther but the majority are sold through the auction mart at Oswestry and Ruthin or as store lambs at Ruthin or St Asaph. Light refreshments will be prepared at Cwmgeifr. We would urge you to be prompt and to be careful when travelling to Blaencwm and then back to Cwmgeifr otherwise there may be problems on the narrow roads. THE SOCIETY’S OPEN DAY FOR 2014 The society’s Open Day for 2014 will be held under the auspices of the Meirioneth branch at Maesypandy, Abergynolwyn, Gwynedd LL36 9AQ at 1.00pm on Saturday 27th September 2014 with the kind permission of the owner,Ruth Tudor and the farm manager, Dylan Davies and family, his wife Alison and children Bedwyr and Erin. Maesypandy lies on the B4405 between Bryncrug and the junction on the A487 in Tal-y-Llyn, near the Minffordd Hotel. The farm extends to over 2,000 acres as well as a further 70 acres in Bryncrug and another 160 acres in Dolgellau. Some 200 acres of the land is found around the farm buildings on the floor of the Dysynni Valley with the rest rising steeply up the slopes of the narrow valley to the top of Graig Goch, Corris behind the farmhouse and Mynydd Bwlch in front. The farmhouse itself is very old with an inscription 1637 carved into one of stones used to build it and a further one indicating that it used to be part of Nanau Estates at one time. The flock of Welsh Mountain ewes numbers 1,300 including some 300 ewe lambs. Nearly 1,000 ewes are turned to the rams at the end of October annually and in 2014, a scanning average of 169% was achieved with 600 ewes carrying twins. Only a small number of ewes are crossed with other breeds. Lambs are born outside from 25th March onwards. Finished lambs are sold teither through Farmers’ Marts in Dolgellau or directly to Dunbia’s abattoir. 30 ram lambs are retained annually with 5 kept as replacements with the other replacements being bought in as the need arises and the supply is available. Rams are normally bought from the same sources at the society’s sales in Dolgellau.A herd of 20 Welsh Black suckler cows are also kept with the offspring sold as stores. The farm is also part of the Glastir scheme. OPEN DAY 2012 The 2012 Society open day was held in association with the Montgomery branch on the family farm of Mr Glynne Jones Cwm Rhayader, Glaspwll, Machynlleth on Saturday, September 29th. Cwm Rhayader Farm is approximately four miles from the main road on the borders of Ceredigion and lies in the shadow of Montgomeryshire with the river Llyfnant flowing past the boundary between the two counties. The farm is around 920 acres in size with the yard located at over 700 feet above sea level. The land is largely upland and rises from the yard to 2,000 feet at the top of the mountain. The flock of Welsh mountain sheep includes 800 breeding ewes, between 180 and 200 female lambs, up to 20 ram lambs and 9 rams. The lambs are sold as store or fat lambs. The flock is kept as a closed flock with one or two rams purchased each year and five or six ram lambs are reared annually.