CALS United Kingdom Spring Break Study Abroad Blog

Today we got to sleep in a little bit or explore a bit of the city before meeting at 9:30am to make our way to the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square. At the US Embassy we met with the USDA agriculture counselor, Stan Phillips, and his colleagues at the embassy, Steve Knight and Jenny. They gave us a brief history of the US embassy in London and then we had a discussion about issues facing US agriculture in the UK.  No cameras or electronics are allowed inside so I only got a picture of the building outside.  After the USDA meeting, we hopped on the tube to go to Westminster Abbey. View outside Westminster, venue for Prince William and Kate Middleton. Also, no photos are allowed inside so I only took this one from the outside. Big Ben and the Houses of Parliment.  We had a few hours of free time before heading back to the hotel to have dinner at Steak & Co. After that, students had free time on their own. Here are a few photos from the dinner!

Today we spent a bit of time in the coach. We drove to Stonhenge to explore and then made our way into London. 

We left around 8:30am to drive to Harper Adams. We got to meet with their faculty, staff, and students. We toured their facilities including Poultry, Dairy, Food Science, and more.  Here are a few photos from that day: Talk from the University Secretary, Dr. Catherine Baxter at Harper Adams Tour around the farm with a graduate student, Alex. It was raining pretty hard at this point. Inside the poultry units.  Paxton at the poultry unit.  The dairy science parlor.  Some of the beer and the brewing techniques.  We then had lunch at Fordhall Farm, one of the first organic farms in England. We had a fantastic lunch. Some of the food grown from Fordhall Farm.  We then spent our last night in Shrewsbury!

Today was an interesting day in terms of both weather and lecture series. While it was really sunny and clear in Scotland, it began to rain a lot in Wales. Our first stop was the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Llwungwern Quarry, Panterperthog Wales. CAT is educational charity devoted to cleaner and renewable sources of energy.  We received a lecture from Paul Allen. We then were able to tour the site with Dr. Tom Baker. However, it was raining quite a bit at this point. We ended the trip with a nice lunch. After the CAT, we drove into Shrewsbury, England (about 2 hours away from Wales). The town is amazing! So many historical sites and places to see. We stayed on Butcher Row at the Prince Rupert Hotel-right in the city center.

Today we left Glasgow around 8am on our way into England. Today was a long haul as we crossed all three countries! Our first stop was Abbott Lodge Dairy Farm in Clifton, Cumbria in England. This was an site as the farmer owns about 300 head of Jersey dairy cattle. They produce their own ice cream and milk. Students heard from Stephen and his wife Claire and their experience as dairy farmers. Sadly, Stephen and Claire loss their herd to foot and mouth disease. They had to put their entire Holstein herd down because of the disease. They decided to restart their herd with jersey cows.  Awards for their Jersey cows.  We were able to tour their farm.  However, we came prepared with some bio-security measures with our booties. Thanks Kaley for getting them! Here Stephen explains what constitutes a proper enclosure for the calves.  Audrey with the jersey cows. Rebekah here petting Jersey cows.  We also got a chance to eat sandwiches (eat ice cream!) and talk more with ...