Former farmer, aged 99, fulfils wish to lead cow at show one more time
BBCA 99-year-old care home resident in south-west Scotland has fulfilled his wish to show a cow at his local agricultural show one more time.
Staff at the Belmont Care Centre in Stranraer put a post on social media about former farmer Jackie Brown's dream in the hope of being able to see it realised.
It came to the attention of the organisers of Stranraer Show who organised for Jackie to come along to the farming event on Wednesday.
He showed one of the Ayrshire cows - just as he had done many times across his pioneering career.
Stranraer Show - which marked its 180th edition this year - is one of the many agricultural shows held across southern Scotland and beyond each summer.
The events celebrate farming, rural life and local food and feature competitions where prize livestock is put on show and judged.
Jackie said the chance to be part of it all once again was more than a dream come true.
"It's not just come true, it's way beyond anything - absolutely beyond anything," he said.
"I never ever thought I would show another Ayrshire cow.
"It's unbelievable."
The opportunity came about thanks to efforts at the care centre to try to do something a little bit out of the ordinary for everyone living there.
''I just came up with the idea of wanting to do something special for each resident," explained Yvonne Patterson from the care centre.
"Then I went to every resident in the home and asked what their one wish be, and we try and make everybody's wish come true.
"I went in and sat and spoke to Jackie for a bit and asked if he had one wish what would that be?".
She said that his dream was to step back onto the show ground one more time.
"His one wish would be to show again, because he's always done it, and it had to be an Ayrshire cow," she said.
''We do a lot on Facebook on our page so all families can see what they get up to and I just put the post on and the amount of comments was just unbelievable.''
Show director Charles "Chic" Service said it was a pleasure to be able to help Jackie, his friend of more than 50 years.
He said: "I've been involved in quite a lot of community things over the years and it's payback time to these people that gave me the opportunity to show cattle and that's the Jackies of this world.
"That's why I'm delighted to give him a chance to come back and do his wish."
He said Jackie had been a bit of a pioneer in the world of agriculture in Galloway.
''He used to show black face sheep and he also used to make shepherd's crooks and showed them at the local shows," he said.
"He was also the first farmer in the area to have an open farm and invite the general public to see the way farming was done many years ago.''
As part of proceedings for his special day, Jackie also received a colourful reminder of seeing his wish realised.
He picked up a rosette for "Supreme Champion, Oldest Handler" for his efforts.
