Chris Impey
Uploaded December 2008

lt has been quite a year for Chris Impey and his Fairoaks herd. First his Fairoaks Farewell 18th saw off 42 other finalists in the Pig of the Year Final at the Great Yorkshire Show to be crowned the 2008 Pig of the Year Champion. This is only the 2nd time a Berkshire has succeeded in doing this.

The trip to Yorkshire was the journey from heIl" Chris told me "the windscreen broke on the way up and we arrived very late at night in a storm in very wet and muddy conditions. But it was worth it." At the Great Yorkshire to witness Chris's success, were his two sons Daniel (13) and Joseph (8) making their first visit to the show.

Chris also showed in the Berkshire Classes at the Great Yorkshire and his boar Fairoaks Peter Lad 2nd was Male Champion and reserve Breed Champion to Ron FieIdhouse's Royal Sapphire sow. Ron's sow farrowed before Newbury and was unable to travel to the Champion of Champions final at the Show so Chris took the Reserve Champion in her place, and Viki went on to win the coveted Jo Clarke Memorial Trophy.

If this unprecedented double was not enough Chris then went on to win the Berkshire Breeders Club 150 draw for the month of September. (I remember selling Chris his draw ticket on the strength of his win at Gt Yorkshire).

Chris's involvement with the Berkshire breed started when he first went to work for the Prison Service at Usk. Two jobs were advertised: a Dairyman and a Pig man. He had at that time more experience on the dairy side but landed the Pigman's job working under Graham Pearce. There were two herds - 120 sow commercial herd and the Berkshire Herd of 15-20 sows.

Chris went to many Shows with Graham and caught the Showing bug. After 10 years at Usk he became a Prison Officer and he and his wife Kate acquired a County Council smallholding at Chepstow and started the Fairoaks herd.

While Chris was still at Usk, Graham Pearce won for the prison a BK gilt in the Club raffle, and on Chris's urging elected to chose a Gillhouse Farewell gilt for the prize, as they did not have this line at Usk at that time. A gilt from this Farewell was sold and then later given to Chris as  foundation stock for the Fairoaks herd. Many generations on, a descendent of this line was to give Chris his biggest success to date.

When the tenancy on the Smallholding expired the pigs were moved to Green Meadow Community farm, who also keep Berkshires, and with whom Chris had been closely involved for a number of years. Now working as a Prison officer in an all women's prison Chris aims to continue breeding "the traditional type of Berkshire" concentrating on some of the older bloodlines such as Mermaid, Farewell and , Peter Lad.

Viki Mills - Editor