Essex boy to start again on

A YOUNG fellow who took on a paper round to pay for his horse’s keep eventually ended up milking cows in West Cork.

Colin Fletcher was four generations away from farming and living in Essex when he leased seven acres and he was still at school.

Breeding pigs and grazing horses aren't usual pastimes for a school boy, but one paid for the other, and Colin had a dozen pedigree pigs on the go. However, it all came to an end with a blast of e-coli which left him with vet bills and little else, and nearly put him off farming for good.