Gavin Paterson, MBE 1930-2015
Hugely respected in the dairy industry, Mr Paterson won the supreme
trophy of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers in 1970 – having won
it 17 years earlier with his father.
The decision by the former Norwich City Football Club director to sell
the milking portion of his prized Smallburgh and Lyngate herd in 2011 was one
of the hardest in his then 60-year farming career. It also ended a family tradition of dairying going back more than a
century as the milking portion of about 240 cows and heifers was dispersed. His Holstein Friesian herd includes two of the dairying’s most famous
names, which won the industry’s supreme awards at the International Dairy Show.
Mr Paterson, who was a director of Norwich City for 12 years from 1985 and the driving
force behind the Worstead Festival for 40 years, was made an MBE for services
to the community of Norfolk in the 2006 new year’s honours.
On their debut at Olympia in 1953, his father, James, won with
Smallburgh Brenda. Then 17 years later at the capital’s last Dairy Show, at
Olympia in October 1970, it was Mr Paterson’s turn to be presented with the
supreme trophy of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers by Princess
Alexandra. Their cows had won on their debut with herdsman, George Clare, and at
the last international show George’s son Arthur was in charge. This achievement
was unique because no other father and son, with separate herds of any breed,
have ever won this top award and no other father and son stockmen have brought
them out. Cows have been central to the family’s farming. In 1925, Mr Paterson’s
father moved from a 70-acre hill farm in Lanarkshire, where he had been milking
35 cows. After motorcycling around Scotland to find a farm – and failing – he was
encouraged to come south and east by top south Norfolk farmer, “uncle” James
Alston, because land was readily available for hiring. “In those days, farms
were two a penny,” said Mr Paterson, who became only the third Norfolk farmer
to be elected president of Europe’s largest breed society, Holstein UK, in
2004.
Gradually, his father built up four herds, each of 72 cows. “If he
needed more cattle, he bought more heifers from Ayrshire because he knew some
dealers who were relations of [fellow Norfolk farmer] William Donald. At that
time, tuberculosis testing had started.But it had to be TB-free milk. “I can just remember when we cleared out
any reactors (TB infected cattle) and my dad would go to Scotland to buy a
couple of truck loads of Ayrshire heifers. We carted all the milk from our
dairies by lorry. It was processed and bottled into one-third of a pint bottles
and delivered to all schools in Norwich by 11am.” He and his late brother, Ian, both went to college in Scotland. When Ian
returned home in the late 1940s and had married, he told his father that he
would prefer to stick with Ayrshires at nearby Dilham. “My father said: ‘You’d better take a lorry and pick up the best from
the other herds. But if you’re going to be that keen, I’d better buy some pedigree
cattle.’ “Then, it was off back to Scotland to get three truck loads of
Ayrshires. And he did the same, later, with the Friesians.
That’s how it all
started.”Later, when his grandparents retired, they didn’t want to sell the cows. “They came down by train. Mother’s brothers, Uncle Rob Alston, of
Witton, North Walsham, James Alston, of Sco Ruston, and my father met the cows
at North Walsham station – they picked them out in turn and so they each had a
third.” In the early days, the Scots were always tenants. Until, one day, with a
modest inheritance, his father bought a little farm in Dilham. “When he went to
Norwich next week, he was told by Uncle James: ‘You don’t buy land. You can’t
get your money out if there’s a collapse’. ”
But it wasn’t long before he
started buying land – and thereby hangs another story. Actually, Mr Paterson’s showing interest had been stimulated by a visit
to the London Dairy Show in 1952. “A group from Aylsham Young Farmers’ Club went on a bus trip organized
by Jim Mitchell, of Blickling, with his sons,” he said. The next day, he reported to his father, who was ill in bed. “I said,
rather cheekily: I think we’ve got some cows out there which are just as good.” “My father said: ‘If you really think that, go and talk to George Clare,
get a couple of cows on test and see how you get on. Then the next year, in
1953, we went and won. I was just 23.”After their first triumph with Smallburgh Brenda, which produced 13
gallons of milk in 24 hours, they returned every year until the last London
show. Mr Paterson said that the enthusiasm of his dairy team was key. “Arthur
was fantastic – he learned from his father, George and I learned from my
father.”
Mr Paterson, who has died aged 85, was a founder of, and driving force
behind, the Worstead Festival, which marked its 50th anniversary this year.
Started to raise money for repairs to Worstead Church tower, the festival
became a major event in Norfolk’s summer calendar. Over the years funds paid for a new village hall in Worstead, named in
honour of the Queen Mother, who opened it, and also raised hundreds of
thousands of pounds for other good causes in the parish and surrounding areas.He was chairman of the festival trustees for 39 years before retiring
and was a life president. A Worstead parish Councillor for more than 50
years, he stood down in May this year.
An accomplished bagpipe player, he was honorary piper to the Norfolk
Caledonian Society. Awarded a fellowship by the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association, Mr
Paterson was made a life vice-president of Norwich City Football Club. In July, he published a book, “Breeding Success - My Life as a Norfolk
Farmer,” written with journalist Mark Nicholls.
He leaves a widow, Marcia and sons, Gavin, Alexander and Bruce, and
three grandchildren. A funeral service will be held at St Mary’s Parish Church,
Worstead, on Wednesday December 16 at 11.30am. Donations to Marie Curie Cancer
Care or The Clan Trust.
A
service of thanksgiving for the life of Marion Ritchie will be held on Monday,
December 21 at St Catherine’s Church, Ludham, 1pm. Donations to the British
Heart Foundation or You Are Not Alone (YANA) may be made.