The North of England Highland Cattle Breeders' Club - NEHCBC
Welcome to the North of England Highland Cattle Breeders’ Club web site...
Scottish Highland cattle have a long and famous ancestry. They have been described as charismatic, beautiful and noble. Early descriptions of the breed indicate they were much smaller in size than at present but that aside, they have remained virtually unchanged making them unique among British breeds of cattle.
The first comprehensive description of the breed was given in 1811 by James MacDonald in his General view of the Agriculture of the Hebrides and this description hardly changed when the first Herd Book was published in 1885. The virtues of the early breed are that they best answer to the land and climate and are bred at the smallest expense.
A group of Highland cattle is called a ‘Fold’...
not a herd as with other breeds. The name came from the days of the crofters when the cattle were gathered off the hill and collected in a fold yard. No other breed has a Highlander’s natural hardiness and vigour. This is not surprising since they find food in bogs and marshes, traverse ravines, rivers and ditches and generally scramble over rocky terrain in all climates.
Highland cattle are loved the world over and this is the reason so many different people keep and breed the cattle. Currently there are an estimated 30,000 Highland cattle in Britain of which 10,000 are breeding females. Modern Highland cattle are found in seven colours; black, brindle, red, yellow, dun, white and particoloured.
The North of England Highland Cattle Breeders’ Club...
is one of the regional clubs of the Highland Cattle Society and is open to all who breed Highlanders or those who simply want to enjoy them. The Highland Cattle Society was founded in 1884 by a group of farmers whose aim was to preserve the Highland breed.
Today there are over 1,000 members of the Society of which half are north of the border and half live south of the border. About 70% of the membership is not engaged in farming for a living but breed the cattle for the sheer love of the animals. They are not just keepers of the cattle they are active breeders. The other 30% are commercial beef farmers successfully producing the finest beef.