Lambing Live stars open local NFU offices
Stars of BBC Two’s 2011 Lambing Live programme, the Marston family from Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria, said they were honoured to be the ones to officially open the new NFU office in Appleby.
Appleby is the Marston’s local branch of the NFU, an organisation which represents more than 55,000 farming members in England and Wales and a club the family have chosen to be a part of since the 1980s.
Three generations of the Marston family took the time to leave their busy Easegill Head Farm to join 40 other NFU members for the official opening ceremony on Thursday 26 May. Donald Marston and his wife Christine were joined by their son Andrew and his daughters Catherine and Abigail.
NFU Appleby’s senior group secretary, Caroline Raine, said: "Every morning after Lambing Live was broadcast on BBC Two I’d chat in the office about how Catherine and Abigail’s cute and lovable personalities had stolen the show. They stole the show again at the NFU Appleby office opening, cutting the official ribbon in a style true Royalty would have been proud of."
Another show stopper at the NFU opening ceremony was Cumbria Constabulary’s new Yamaha 550 EPS quad bike which is liveried up in the style of a police car.
"This is the first outing of the quad bike which we intend to use as an ice breaker at the county’s major agricultural shows throughout 2011," said PC Roly Earl of Cumbria Police.
"NFU informed us of the increasing strain rural crime is having on its members. We want to help farmers as much as we can so hope this quad acts as a magnet at the shows and draws people to both the NFU and Cumbria Police stands where our officers will advise on how to keep equipment safe. For example, we’ll be handing out stickers which remind farm workers to remove the keys from tractors and we’ll also have useful information about the latest tracking systems that machinery owners can invest in."
Robert Sheasby, NFU North West regional director, added: "I hope the NFU’s new Appleby office on Low Wiend becomes a focal point for the farming community in the area. NFU members in Appleby are rightly proud of their peers who have been promoting farming on a national stage, their group secretaries who work tirelessly on their behalf and now their brand new office. Farming has a bright future in this part of the country."
