Monach Farms History

In the beginning there were goats! Like many children born in wartime Britain to a family that had some farmland, goats were a part of the scene. My father preferred cows but when a local person was called up to serve in the war, we took on their goats and for the next eighteen years they were a part of my life. Originally they were B.S., related I suspect, to some of those of the late Miss Minnie’s (Langham Herd), as we lived only a mile or so away. Later they were crossed with a B.A male from the Edgerton Herd and finally back to B.S. My father was very negative about the show world as he suspected the frailties of humanity to be unable to come to fair and accurate decisions. My mother had spent most of her working life at Gt. Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and recalled the times when milk of many different species of animals was supplied to the hospital for the benefit of the sick children, as no dried or formulated milk was available then. Goat milk was the most important. Hence, being a rather sickly infant myself, I was reared on goat milk having frequent bouts of sickness during the winter months when the goats were dry and only a small amount of cow’s milk was available. In the summer months we supplied goats’ milk to pensioners in the surrounding area during the wartime shortages.

Time passed and conditions improved for all but by now my father had developed health problems culminating in a burst appendix, gangrene and retirement. During this time other elderly relations living with us caused time- problems for my mother and I took over the goats and other stock, milking before and after school. Finally, as I left school my parents gave up stock keeping and the goats were passed to another local person.

That might have been the end of the story, but I had a pony, which I continued to keep until Roland and I married and went to Canada and from there, to many other places in the world. However the pony was on loan. Three years later we returned to Cambridge where Roland did his PhD and I produced our eldest daughter Emily. Meanwhile I had collected a Labrador and we moved to Northern Ireland taking with us the pony. During this time I started a small riding centre and dog training group and successfully campaigned our first Newfoundland. When we returned to England three years later, the growing menagerie came back with us and we spent the next five years in Norfolk. Soon after, a local vet asked us if we could take on a wild BT goatling (Wolsey Emma HB30081H). This was closely followed by some BAs to add to the BSs and BTs, which we already had, including a very hairy elderly matron BT type, who required milking 3 times a day, who rejoiced in the name of Yak. At this stage it seemed logical, and encouraged by the likes if Chris Journet and the owner of a local BA stud, we joined the BGS. I continued to campaign our Newfoundland and she became a breed champion and in 1972 was Reserve Best of Breed to her brother at Crufts.
Soon after this Roland was suddenly taken ill with meningitis and we had another change of direction, moving back to Cambridgeshire – to a small farm where the goats grew in number along with other livestock (Dexter Cattle, Kune Kune pigs) and another small riding centre emerged. We also produced our daughter Ellie. Encouraged by local goat keepers Frank Barber, David Brace and a few others, I started showing the goats along with British White cattle and poultry and so the various Monach Herds became a major part of our lives. Maybe due to early experience, I have always bred for milk first and beauty second, as the definition is ‘dairy’ goats, not merely show goats. This is one reason British stock is so sought after in other countries. Because of this, we milk-recorded from the start and kept the whole herd not only CAE Negative tested and monitored but also Scrapie monitored. This helped with stock sales and over the years considerable numbers of kids have been both exported to other countries and sold domestically.

Inevitably, as numbers grew and health status was paramount, we started to keep our own stud males, beginning with a BT (§146/28 Linwell Rome BT8611H) and later making up SM 174/176+ Buckswood Ladykiller BT10959 to Breed Champion. Five home-bred Sires of Merit have since followed. From our original Norfolk stock came R185 Monach Mayflower Q* BS 21380H, followed by RM 181 Monach Achillia *1 BrCh BS31618. The BT line produced R191 Monach Juniper * BT42892H, later to produce the highest yield at the East of England show and the reason for Spillers to start making goat mixes. Meanwhile Emily had joined the goat world and been given R123 Willowbee Amanda Q* AN19642 and so we met and used stud males from Miss Rochford’s Berkham herd. On her death we took over the Rochford ‘R’ earmark. We have also bred four Dams of Excellence: Monach Ixiolirion *1 AN28640D, RM167 Monach Nightshade Q*2 AN30267D, AR194 Monach Eureka *2 BS35330D and RM190 Monach Kumquat *3 BT24114D.

At about this time we also acquired a pair of pygmy goats and the Monach Pygmy Herd was established. By now we were producing a considerable amount of milk, which was being sold both at the farm gate and to cheese makers. As my own health had been a problem, we made the decision to bring in help and expand the goats to cover the costs. Numerous deaths in both families made the next l0 years difficult and curtailed much showing. However, conditions improved and new breed champions and BCC winners evolved including R132 Monach Heliotrope Q*1 BrCh AN28467D and latterly R138 Monach Oleander Q*2 Br Ch AN30463D.
When Emily returned from college, she joined the farm enterprise and eventually took over the horses. She has established a successful riding school and education unit. More details can be found on her own website at http://www.monachriding.co.uk/.

THE MONACH HERD at BUTTERFLY LODGE

The big change came in 2000, when Ellie, having completed her university degree and found a husband (Warren), told us that they would like to join the family business and run the small farm we own near Colchester, Essex. They had the vision of expanding the goat herd and diversifying into ‘on-farm dairy production and processing’. The farm had unimproved grassland but no house and no outbuildings, so it really was a case of starting from scratch. Planning permission was eventually gained for two barns, a milking parlour and a mobile home. The decision was taken to move the majority of the milking herd to Essex while keeping a few show animals and young stock in Cambridgeshire. Ellie & Warren then had to prove financial viability of the goat business in order to obtain a permanent dwelling for themselves. This eventually happened in 2005. In the meantime they have built a Farm Shop, incorporated the village Post Office where they sell a wide range regional food, home produce and our traditionally reared meats. They also sell goat meat, which has proven to be a popular, healthy alternative to the more traditional meats. Most significantly of all Warren & Ellie have developed their own product – Caprillate – Farmhouse Luxury Dairy Goats Milk Ice Cream. Warren has a passion for ice cream and saw an increasing demand for a wider variety of healthy alternatives to cow’s-milk products. Assured in the knowledge of the high health status of our goats and their milk, we felt that we had the recipe for success. So in December 2004, surrounded by local & national media interest, Butterfly Lodge Dairy and Farm Shop presented Caprillate to the public in sixteen flavours from Mexican Vanilla to Belgian Double Chocolate, from Honey-moon pie to Mint Choc Crisp! Special flavours are made at Christmas such as Stollen cake, Christmas pudding, and cinnamon & spiced apple. We now produce specialist flavours for weddings and Birthday Parties: orders such as Raspberry Pavlova, Turkish Delight, and Fruit of the Forest. More details can be found on Warren’s website at www.caprilatte.co.uk.

Every Summer Warren and Ellie attend numerous regional and national food events, and have experienced enormous interest in the Goats Milk Ice Cream, and have worked hard to dispel the general public’s misconceptions about Goats Milk.
Warren has developed each recipe using the finest natural ingredients and the Caprilatte flavour list now boasts over 36 luxurious flavours. Not only is the ice cream sold in the Farm Shop at Butterfly Lodge, but also many local pubs and restaurants have found it popular too.

Ellie now organises and runs regular Educational Access farm visits for local nurseries, schools, and societies as part of our DEFRA Countryside Stewardship scheme. These visits are based around educating people about how a dairy goat unit is run, and integrated in to a small livestock unit. The visitors are taken on a tour to see our dairy goats, and milking parlour. They enjoy a talk on goat husbandry and keeping healthy milking goats. Her own care-farming enterprise has its own website at http://wellieson.com/.

Roland and Dreda Randall
Warren and Ellie Goff

Monach Farm Tel: 01480 830426 rer10@cam.ac.uk