Docklands berth for royal pedigree

16 January 1998

Docklands berth for royal pedigree

A pedigree calf from the Royal Jersey herd at Windsor has been given to the Surrey Docks Farm at Rotherhithe in Londons dockland by the cattle breeding company Semex UK.

"This is a valuable acquisition for us," said Tony Needham, co-ordinator of the farm which is visited by more than 2200 people each year including 5000 schoolchildren. Mr Needham is pictured (right) receiving the pedigree certificate from David Hardy, manager of Royal Farms.

Surrey Docks Farm puts urban people in touch with the realities of food production, says Mr Needham, and provides wonderful educational opportunities for the children, offering many of them their first contact with animals.

Two of the farms young visitors are pictured here

taking charge of the calf, Windsor Cassanovas Loreen, who comes from a herd which recorded its first cow in 1871 when Pretty Polly was brought over from Osborne House on the Isle of Wight by Queen Victoria.