A long standing member of RHET Clyde moved on (literally) to pastures new in that James Rankin of Badenheath Farm, Cumbernauld has moved to the Stirling area.

James was one of the founder members of RHET Clyde arriving at its inaugural meeting at the Museum of Rural life in 2002, hoping to be able to inform youngsters of today where their food comes from. 

The Rankin family have milked cows at Badenheath for over 100 years, although James has not been there all that time! James has taken thousands of children to his dairy farm to visit, helped by his wife May and his brother Robert and families. He also has annually educated new chefs coming from Glasgow high schools on how their food is produced. 

On his very last farm visit in 2023 he led a group of foreign ex-farmers and children who had arrived in Scotland from war-torn countries, with little or no English, and who were stuck within a 2 mile radius of their homes in Glasgow until their citizenship came through. 

Luckily a very forward thinking Glasgow teacher, who also happens to be a dairy farmer's daughter from Dumfries, and has worked with RHET Clyde for many years, came to us asking if we could take the parents and children out to look at farming in Scotland. They missed their farms and working on the land, and could not travel anywhere without a responsible lead person. 

Although James had technically resigned from RHET, he was keen to take this group for his last visit.  It really just cements everything James has delivered in the past, and was a fitting tribute to these farmers and to James. He will be missed enormously.  RHET Clyde would like to thank James and family for 22 years of volunteering.