Manx Loaghtan Breeders Patrick and Sue Glynn

Manx Loaghtan Breeders Patrick and Sue Glynn-Riley
and Sue Quilleash meet Prince Charles and Camilla.
Article by Sue Quilleash, photographs by John Quilleash.
I was surprised to receive a phone call from Patrick Glynn-Riley asking
me to join him and his wife Sue in Peel to present a display of Manx
Loaghtan products for a forthcoming Royal Visit. I had only heard a
vague rumour that there was going to be a visit but never expected to be
involved. I agreed to join them and set about obtaining the leaflets and
banner for the display from Carol Kempson.
Over the course of the next week the visit was indeed confirmed and the
itinerary worked out. The leaflets duly arrived and I rushed about getting
more copied and laminating some in case of inclement weather.
The morning of the event dawned in typical Manx fashion for a Royal
visit. Wet, cold and blowing a “hooley”. Still John and I set of to Patrick’s
house to find that he had the ewe and lamb already loaded in the trailer
and the smell of the mutton, and leg of lamb, cooking wafted out of the
kitchen.
We travelled together to Peel to avoid parking more vehicles than
necessary and unloaded outside the House of Manannan on Peel
quayside. We were to set up in the outside area but at least as you can
see from the photo we
had a bit of shelter.
The mutton was being
kept at the right
temperature in a thermos
food flask and the leg of
lamb was wrapped up in
tinfoil. Only the laminated
leaflets could be displayed
because of the rain but at
least the banner was
waterproof.
The Royal party was visiting the National Sports Centre first to see some
of our young cyclist performing on the all weather track. Mark Cavendish
is a hero to all these youngsters. That part was cut slightly short
because of the driving rain and wind which meant the Royal Party was
slightly ahead of schedule heading for Peel.
HRH Camilla was the first to arrive at our stand; apparently she had
never seen a Manx Loaghtan before and was fascinated by them. She
took some time studying the sheep and lamb in the pen then HRH
Camilla looked at the display of leaflets, photographs and meat on the
table.
Patrick asked if she would like to
try some of the hot mutton, she
accepted and declared it to be
delicious. Camilla even told us to
make sure that HRH Prince
Charles tried some too when he
came to our display.
We had a discussion about the
origins of the breed and the
characteristic horns in particular. I
showed her the Manx
Loaghtan wool cardigan I
was wearing and she
commented that in view of
the weather she wished
she had one on.
For all you ladies out
there HRH Camilla was
very slim and elegant in a
lovely blue grey tweed
coat with a blue trim and
blue scarf. She was very friendly and chatted quite freely to us.
As Camilla moved down one side
of the displays Prince Charles
was talking to producers on the
other displays. He was spending
a lot of time with each of them
and showing a great deal of
interest.
When he reached us he first had a look
at the sheep and the display before
tasting the mutton.
Patrick chatted to him about
the meat after the tasting
and he was telling us how
he had been behind the
mutton renaissance
campaign in the UK. When he
started to ask a bit more about the
origins and history of the sheep
Patrick asked me to give him the
information. I told him what I knew
about the history and origins and
then explained about the
husbandry of the sheep and how
easy they are to keep. He was
telling me a bit about keeping
sheep at Highgrove. I found him to
be very interested in the sheep and very knowledgeable about livestock
and farming in general.
When we were finished we were
invited inside to warm up and have
a cup of tea. After that we tidied up
loaded the trailer up and headed
back to Patrick’s house. And in
typical Manx fashion the weather
cleared and by late afternoon it
was sunny and pleasant again.