Watson Hill Farm - Hillside Holsteins

General information

Watson Hill Farm, situated just one mile out of St. Bees and of Egremont, utilises light-medium loam, free drained land varying from 55 to 155m above sea level. It is situated on a narrow western coastal plain of Cumbria, in Northwest England. The farm is in an area of about 1020mm of rainfall, and strong prevailing winds, meaning that plenty of grass can be easily grown with enough moisture in summer for continuous growth year-round.

The development of Watson Hill Farm began in 1949 with Edwin Bushby taking over the farm with two cows, one horse and implements. By the mid-fifties, the policy of the farm was directed towards mixed stocks and cropping. The dairy herd of Northern Dairy Shorthorns, by now consisted of 25 cows together with 60 followers of youngstock.

By 1955 the policy of Edwin had been streamlined and for the last ten years grass had been the sole crop and was then utilised by 96 cows. It was following this that the infamous 'bed and breakfast' system was introduced with the cows having access to the face of the clamp as forage, and access via a ramp up the clamp for sleeping.

William and Dorothy Bushby took over Watson Hill Farm from William's father, Edwin, in 1989 and commenced the Hillside Herd. Since then William has won The Barclays Bank 'Dairy Farmer of the Year' twice with the cow numbers increasing to a herd over 400 cows today.

Our cow families include: BoSelecta, Cadet, Claire, Sharon, Marie, Marion, Marden, Maud, Noddy, Helena.

Current sires being used are: Aventador, Ayers, Blake, Beau, Captain, Fantasmic, Franchise, Justice, Merrick, Nikita, Nirvana, Pesky, Resse, Silver, Star, Topsy and Zeber. Alongside these we currently have two stock bulls - Hillside Meiosis (Iota x Sanchez) and Hillside Marra (Oak x Iota)