Harper Life 2019 - Alumni Magazine

Anthony Warner and Chris Milne-Day returned to Harper to mark 60 years since they and fellow students kidnapped a bull that had been destined for slaughter and held him to ransom in a bid to raise funds for a national cancer charity supported by the RAG society. On learning of Ferdinand the bull’s sorry fate, a result of him not meeting breed standards, the Daily Mirror stepped in to save him. But the Harper Adams students saw an opportunity to increase Ferdy’s fame and raise funds for the British Empire Cancer Campaign. After conducting a recce at the farm in Reading where the bull was being held, a team of students, including Chris and Anthony, went down with a Landover and trailer, collected him and brought him to Harper Adams, later moving him to a farm at Buildwas, near Ironbridge. Their ransom bid of November 1959 – seeking 100 Guineas – failed and was condemned by the charity. Ferdy was recovered by the police and returned to his original home farm. But former students and others did claim to have made direct donations as a result of the publicity. And the consequences were not too dire for the students involved. “We knewwhat we were doing,” said Anthony, “Chris and I were poultry students, but we had agrics with us. Ferdinand was well looked after.” Marking 60 years since the Ferdinand the bull escapade Anthony, left, and Chris back at Harper Adams on November 1, 2019