Family set for dispersal sale at Shropshire farm after 63-year stay

And Angus Sheppard, who followed in the footsteps of his well respected father, Jim, when he took over the reins at Colemere House Farm, Colemere, near Ellesmere, reflected on his time there by admitting: "I wouldn’t change a thing."

The family first took on the tenancy in 1961 and originally had a dairy herd before becoming a mixed farm with store cattle and sheep. For the past eight years, Angus has focused entirely on arable crops but now he has decided to semi-retire.

“I plan to carry on doing some farm related contracting,” said Angus.

“Colemere House Farm has given us a good life and it has been a great place to bring up kids.

"If I had my time again, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

He has built up an impressive fleet of six New Holland and Ford tractors and a Telehandler, together with a good selection of quality machinery and implements which have all been maintained meticulously and kept under cover.

The tractors, machinery and implements will be sold at a farm dispersal sale on Saturday, April 6, conducted by Halls and held live on the MartEye bidding platform.

The sale starts at 11am and viewing is the day before the sale or by arrangement with Halls or the Sheppard family.

The family’s tractors on offer include a 2023 New Holland T7.270, a 2019 New Holland T7.190, a 2020 New Holland TH7.42 Elite telehandler, a Ford 8240 with Powerstar SLE Turbo, a Ford 6640 SL and Ford TW25 and Ford TW15, both restored by John Tomkinson. Also included is a Mecmar D20 mobile grain dryer.

The chairman of Halls auctioneers, Allen Gittins, is predicting the forthcoming dispersal sale is likely to be “one of the best of the year” because of the quality of the lots on offer.

Mr Gittins, who has known the Sheppard family for many years, said: “This is likely to be one of the best farm dispersal sales we will conduct this year, simply because of the quality and range of tractors, farm implements and machinery which have all been kept meticulously and stored under cover. Everything is top quality.

“There is a wide range of lots on offer and the many of them have been on the farm since new so buyers can buy with confidence. There is a comprehensive range of tractors, cultivation and grassland equipment, farm implements and machinery for sale.”

The auction also includes an extensive range of sheep feeding equipment, workshop and general sundries, tools, spares and building materials, most of which will be sold indoors.

Also included by special permission are a number of lots including two Massey Ferguson 135 and 35X tractors and a number of trailers.

The sale catalogue is available to download at hallsgb.com/event/colemere-house-farm-dispersal-sale/