President Denise Houghton welcomed forty-five members and nine guests to the first meeting of the season on September 19th in The Garden Rooms at Tennants in Leyburn. Denise announced that as this was to be her last year as President, our Vice-President Lynda Lees would chair the December and January meetings to ease her into her forthcoming new role. The Vote of Thanks rota for the forthcoming year will be published and the volunteer members were thanked.
Following lunch and time for everyone to catch up after the summer break, our speaker Neil Mechie spoke about his life as a local vet, racehorse trainer and farmer. Following an internship at York Equine Hospital and working in equine practice, Neil joined Johnston Racing. It was here that his passion for the sport of racing grew and along with his wife and fellow colleague Lucy, Neil successfully trained point to point and National Hunt racehorse winners. In 2020 Neil and Lucy set up Mechie Racing, a 16-box stable yard and also diversified into farming with Northern Dairy Short Horn Cattle and Border Leicester Sheep. Neil, Lucy and their two children are fully involved in all aspects of the racing yard, vet practice and farming. They try to do things in a sustainable and scientific manner intending to protect the environment, profession and sport they are involved in. Julia Barnard gave the vote of thanks for an enjoyable presentation.
At our next meeting on October 19th, Tom Orde-Powlett will speak about conservation on The Bolton Estate. New members are always very welcome, as are guests. You can find more information on our website www.leyburnlunchclub.co.uk.
