Steel Sculpture Visits Yummy Yorkshire in Huddersfield to Celebrate 160th Great Yorkshire Show

A magnificent galvanised steel sculpture of the Craven Heifer spent today [Thursday 31st May] at Yummy Yorkshire in Huddersfield as part of its region-wide tour to celebrate the 160th Great Yorkshire Show this summer.

The family-run dairy farm, located in the heart of the Pennine Yorkshire countryside, hosted a special fun-filled family day to celebrate the visit from the GYSheifer which weighs in at more than half a tonne and stands at 6ft tall. The farm is also home to 120 cows who supply the onsite coffee shop, restaurant and ice cream parlour as well as fresh milk dispenser.

Members of the public were encouraged to post their selfies with #GYSheifer on Twitter. The best picture from each location on the tour will win a family ticket (2 adults & 3 children) worth £75 on the door, £65 in advance.

Show organisers the Yorkshire Agricultural Society commissioned renowned Whitby-based sculptor Emma Stothard to recreate the Craven Heifer who became a national phenomenon in the 1800s. People would pay to see the heifer who was put on show on her way to Smithfield Market, London, and remains the largest heifer ever shown in England and lived in the same era as the first show.

The GYSheifer will be popping up at locations across Yorkshire to promote England’s biggest and best agricultural show before taking up position at the Great Yorkshire Showground ready for the event. Tickets are now on sale for the show which takes place from Tuesday 10 to Thursday 12 July.

Heather Parry, Managing Director of Yorkshire Agricultural Society, said: “It’s been terrific to bring the GYSheifer to Yummy Yorkshire and to spread the word about the Great Yorkshire Show to people in Huddersfield. Yummy Yorkshire is a highly respected local farm and attraction which supplies ice creams to the showground’s farm shop and cafe Fodder. Owners Louise and Jeremy are so passionate about what they do and the way they’ve diversified epitomises the future of farming.”

Louise Holmes, co-founder of Yummy Yorkshire said: “We were thrilled to be selected as one of the locations for the GYSheifer roadshow. We have worked very hard to turn our third-generation farm into a business that has a secure future and have been happy to welcome customers onto the farm as part of this journey. We are both proud Yorkshire folk so we were very excited to welcome such an amazing sculpture associated with The Great Yorkshire Show to the farm.”

The GYSheifer is a one off, bespoke, life-size sculpture in steel which stands 6ft high, 4ft wide and 11ft long. She was created at sculptor Emma’s Whitby studio before being galvanised in Bradford and powder coated in Middlesbrough. She was then attached to a specially designed Great Yorkshire Show truck by HACS construction services in Ripley – ready for her journey.

The sculpture project has been months in the planning and involved research with experts at Bolton Abbey Estate and the Great Yorkshire’s Chief Cattle Steward Margaret Chapman, whose family have been part of the show for more than 100 years, to ensure the sculpture’s authenticity.

The Craven Heifer was born and bred in Bolton Abbey in the early 1800s. She was so large that a special door twice as wide as the norm had to be built to get her in and out of the cow shed.

The Craven Heifer was a Shorthorn breed and this year will be the first time that the Great Yorkshire Show will host three national cattle breed shows; including the UK Beef Shorthorn Championships the British Simmental Society Show and the National Charolais Show.

The GYSheifer will appear next at a special event at Wold Top Brewery In Driffield in Saturday 2 June before her final visit to Our Cow Molly Farm Shop in Sheffield on Sunday 10 June.

Here is where you can see the GYSheifer:

SATURDAY JUNE 2: WOLD TOP BREWERY, DRIFFIELD The GYSheifer sculpture goes to Wold Top brewery for its annual open weekend which raises money for National Garden Scheme charities. The brewery is celebrating its 15th anniversary and will have a 160th Great Yorkshire Show beer on sale for the weekend only. Wold Top was supported with a grant from Yorkshire Agricultural Society when it opened and has ales sold in Fodder.

SUNDAY JUNE 10: OUR COW MOLLY FARM SHOP, SHEFFIELD. The only dairy farm left in Sheffield which produces and bottles its own milk, delivering to businesses in the city including Co-op, Morrisons and Sheffield University. The farm shop supplies milk to the Great Yorkshire Show Cookery Theatre and will welcome over 2,000 visitors to its Open Farm Sunday where the GYSheifer will stay for the day.