The Woods are first and foremost meat people for that is the background of both their families, and like so many butchers they love livestock and the challenge of breeding the best. It is no surprise to find that Bowland Foods [wholesalers of beef and lamb] and Popes Simms [winners of show and sale accolades] are both successful.

Jimmy has two sons: James, a civil engineer, and Thomas, who works in the Blackburn Abattoir. Then Vikki and Jimmy have Hannah [six] and the all important and now becoming famous 10-year-old Harry, who has already featured in the media as a very young but able stockman.

“ We’ve survived for 10 years since buying my father-in-law’s business without supermarkets and we intend to continue that way,” says Jimmy as we start our interview – an interesting comment and one I fully understand.
Vikki continues: “We supply retail and catering outlets over a very wide area. The demand for both beef and lamb is steady but there is much more we could do by education and it has to be said by innovation, developing new ways of presenting the product.”

Bowlands Foods has a throughput of 280 cattle and 500 lambs a week with 70 per cent coming out of markets as far south as Bridgnorth, east to Thirsk and north to Wigton and Carlisle. Jimmy is buying Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, commission buyers provide the rest. They buy a lot of Limousin cross bulls R3\R4L; their big market is out into Lancashire where traditionally there has always been a demand for very lean beef. What Jimmy finds extraordinary is that a greater percentage of auction cattle are too heavy when lighter cattle would be more suitable for his wholesale business.

Vikki, it has to be said, and of course young Harry have the passion for the Simmentals doing much of the work, which is not surprising with Jimmy on a 4.30am trigger and covering a lot of miles each week. They got into the breed in 1988, took their first bull to Perth in 93 and won the Junior Championship and Reserve Overall, and had the confidence not to sell when not satisfied with the final bid. In February 1994 they sold a bull for a 5,000 gns, in October 97 up came a Junior Champion again, sold for 3,900 gns, and then in February 2002 they got their Senior and Overall Champion – 12,000 gns.

In the showring they graduated from local events to the Royal five years ago and this year came away with a first with a very smart heifer, who now has an equally attractive heifer at foot, and which was a member of the winning group of five in the interbreed. At the GYS for the first time they took the Breed Championship with Corrick Major, who was also Res Junior Interbreed Champ. This bull was bought for 12,000 gns out of Perth from a farm in Northern Ireland which I had been on only a week before my visit, where I had seen some very impressive Simmental cows.

The Popes herd had been Best Medium Herd in the large Midlands Club area and Reserve Overall in the Midlands area in 2002 standing only behind the famous Hockenhull herd. Vikki and Jimmy admit to a lucky time coming in as they did when some major herd dispersals were taking place enabling them to acquire strong cow families. But always the question to a good beef breeder is which is THE cow family? The answer is Tintoside Nellie, bought as a 10-month heifer for 2,000 gns in 1990 from Brian Jameson – the foundation cow supreme.

Jimmy, Vikki and young Harry will go on succeeding with their breeding herd for they have the determination and love of the job. When they got married Jimmy gave up football, Vikki horses and Harry has done neither – he just loved washing, grooming and showing. Long may he continue.

Article courtesy of ‘Farming in the North’

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