Staff and Contacts
Boltons Park has become a busy place and to deal with the extra work we need more help, consequently in addition to our four fulltime staff we have a great band of regular relief workers and Saturday helpers. Most of our helpers go on to become students at the College and it is great to see them years later coming up to the farm on their course as undergraduates.
The Team
Charley Verity
Charley has worked at the College for 21 years, eight years of which have been on the farm. Her responsibilities are looking after the cows, keeping the paper work up to date and accurate, optimising cow performance, liaising with teaching staff and organising appropriate animals for classes etc.
Welfare is an important part of Charley's role, she takes great care to minimise the amount of time our cows are waiting for students. A happy cow is one that can eat, drink and rest and this is how we like them to spend their time.
What Charley likes best about her job...
"Working with the animals and the highs that successes bring."
What Charley least likes about her job...
"When things go wrong and if a cow has to leave the farm."
Charley can be contacted by email: cverity@rvc.ac.uk
Steve Pauley
Steve has been at the college for ten years and looks after our flock of sheep. Steve liaises with the teaching department and sets up for classes. Steve's other main role is the feeding of our milking herd, a job that requires excellent attention to detail and consistency. This is a busy role. At Christmas time Steve is a key player in preparing the turkeys for customers.
What Steve likes best about his job...
"When the weather improves and having so much going on, never a quiet day up here."
What Steve least likes about his job...
"Struggling to keep within the various laws and rules surrounding spreading of manure."
Steve can be contacted by email: wellywiz@aol.com
Owen Savine
Livestock farming is new to me although it is in my blood, somewhere! I started at the farm in November 2011, pretty green but I am learning fast. My specific roles are looking after the farm's poultry, and maintaining and operating the farm's machinery. I am also on hand to milk and feed the dairy herd when needed. In reality there is no end to what needs to be done on the farm but this is made more interesting by the need to keep everywhere tidy once the job has been completed.
What Owen likes best about his job...
"Working with the cows and being involved with the herd, they are very good to work with."
What Owen least likes about his job...
"If we lose an animal. I am not sure I will get used to that in a hurry. Fortunately it doesn’t seem to happen often."
Paul Christian
Paul has been managing the farm for 12 years. With specific responsibility for making sure we maintain our environmental and legal responsibilities. Again animal welfare is an important factor when managing livestock. Our aim is to provide a first class teaching facility with a positive financial result at the end of the year.
What Paul likes best about his job...
"It is a farming job with a difference, a real mix of people and great fun"
What Paul least likes about his job...
"The weather!. The rain constantly fills up our lagoon!"
Contact
For further information about the farm please email Paul on pchristian@rvc.ac.uk