Background? I was born and bred at Flowerybrae, Memsie, where my father farmed. I came straight home to work alongside him after I left school with the commercial cattle, until I got married in August, 1972. I then worked at various commercial and dairy farms before getting started in the pedigree work. My first pedigree job was at Harestone, where I brought out Charolais cattle for five years, before moving to the Durnos, at Uppermill, for a further five years. It was at that point I moved to Inverurie and started my freelance work in 2001 – securing two days a week at Thainstone auction market and filling the rest of my days in with pedigree cattle.
WITH MORE than 1000 followers on a closed facebook page, Andy Frazier s Top Line and Top Tales has enjoyed a rapt audience since start up a few months ago. Dedicated to the talents of stockmen and breeders over the years, there have been some lively discussions about the merits or otherwise of some famous (and not so famous) animals and their handlers. So much so that Andy – a former stockman himself – has now made an enjoyable and growing selection of downloadable podcasts to go with the page. From the merits of the breeding programmes enacted by the late J Ernest Kerr, of Harviestoun, and the Adam family, from Newhouse, to stories about the irascible characters behind the halters, like Dave Smith, Bert Rugg, and Gentleman Jim Donald, these provide a fascinating insight of the glory days of British stockmanship.