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We caught up with Rebecca John from Pembrokeshire YFC to hear all about her experience as team leader for the Wales YFC International Trip to the Isle of Wight!

On Thursday the 11th of July, Sara and I, both members of Pembrokeshire YFC made our way to Cenarth coaches to meet the bus. Gwenan and Lisa, members of Ceredigion YFC also joined us there. We then started on our journey to Builth to meet the rest of the group Grace, Gemma, Owain and Tudur all members of Montgomery YFC.

It was nice that all members knew someone before meeting as a group for the first time and once we all started chatting we soon found out most of us shared mutual friends. It was also nice learning more about each other. Funnily enough, myself and Gwenan had actually started talking to each other at the international selection day in Builth back in October 2023. It’s definitely important to make the effort to talk to whoever you end up sitting next to in the waiting room before your interview as you might even end up on the same trip!

After a few hours travelling, we reached Portsmouth harbour in the afternoon and it was a very short crossing around 30-40 minutes to Fishbourne harbour. We headed to the hotel to check in and then headed straight back out to have a pint! It was a chilled first evening on the island of having food and drinks and wandering around Sandown and walking across the pier.

On Friday, we started the day off with a farm visit to Briddlesford Farm in Ryde. We were welcomed by Chris & Paul Griffin. Briddlesford Farm has been in the hands of the Griffin family since 1923. The farm is home to a herd of 140 pedigree Guernsey cows. Paul told us how there are only a handful of dairy farms left on the island and that there is no longer a milk factory or livestock market. The family diversified in 2005, by opening a farm shop on site and opening a café in 2009. A range of milk, cream and butter as well as a selection of distinctive farmhouse cheeses are all produced at Briddlesford and are sold directly from the onsite farm shop and utilised in the cafe. Veal is also produced on farm, but does have to be sent over to the mainland to be slaughtered and butchered. It was an interesting morning having a look around the farm, seeing the livestock and visiting the farm shop & cafe. It was insightful to learn the unique opportunities and challenges that come with being a dairy farmer on the island compared to mainland dairy farmers.

We then headed to Harvey Browns Farm shop, where Ben showed us around the very impressive modern farm shop. Ben also gave us a brief history of how the Harvey Brown farm shop had developed to become what it is today. We visited the farm to see the vegetable patches. With the majority of us being livestock farmers it was fantastic having an insight into fruit and veg production. We saw several patches growing a variety of things, including asparagus, potatoes, brassicas and grains. We then tucked into a delicious lunch at the cafe at Harvey Browns.

After a morning of agricultural visits, we spent the afternoon being proper tourists. We headed to the Needles. We all enjoyed going on the chairlift from the top of the Alum Bay cliffs down to the beach below. We then went for a boat ride for a close-up view of the Needles Rocks, the lighthouse and panoramic views of the coloured Alum Bay cliffs. Following the boat ride, we headed back up to the Alum Bay cliffs on the chairlift and headed for a walk to take in the stunning scenery and to have a cliff top view of the needles and the whole of the Alum Bay. We took the scenic route back to Sandown. Absolutely stunning views of the coast. It reminded me of the coastal view, back home in Pembrokeshire.

On Saturday, we had a full day in the Royal Isle of Wight show. An enjoyable day wandering round the show. A similar atmosphere to many local shows back in Wales but there were some different events which we had never seen before! There was the ‘Big Bale challenge’ where teams pushed a large round bale over an obstacle course whilst children sprayed them with water guns. As well as children doing tug of war against a steam engine! Although there were not large numbers of cattle or sheep it was obvious that the exhibitors who were there were eager to educate the public. By taking the time to talk to the public and even letting children have a go at leading calves. The Griffin family had a stand at the show and even did a milking demonstration which drew a large crowd. Following the day at the show, we spent the evening exploring the seaport town of Cowes. An incredible amount of yachts and cruise ships were coming in and out of Cowes.

On Sunday, we had a quick visit to the garlic farm before heading home. We had a look around the shop which was selling a lot of different garlicky products. Some we were not expecting to see including garlic fertiliser, beer and ice cream! We had a walk around the farm. It was apparent there was a huge push towards regenerative farming on the farm. We saw farmland being farmed organically, acres of wild flowers, woodland and highland and Hereford cattle grazing rotationally.

We would like to thank Wales YFC for the experience! Travelling with YFC is just another incredible opportunity you get with being a member. I would encourage all members to apply, you get to see different parts of the world whilst making new friends

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