Ryeland Downs supreme at Skipton rare and native breeds event
05/09/06

Despite pouring rain outdoors, there was a full house under cover at Skipton Auction Mart for the annual Rare & Native Stockbreeder Auctions, Midsummer Festival of Border and Beswick trading and bi-monthly Agri-Trader Auctions, on Saturday, (Sept 2)

Margaret Hipps is pictured with her Skipton Ryeland Down inter-breed champion, receiving the trophy from main sponsor Nick Gray.

The show and sale of rare, minority and traditional breeds - including sheep, cattle, pigs, poultry and waterfowl - attracted a strong and diverse entry and was once more sponsored by Gray’s of Shenstone, Staffordshire, one of the UK’s leading supplier of Border Fine Arts figurines.

The event was again staged in association with the Dales Support Group of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST). “It went extremely well and was a great success all round,” reported Dales Support Group secretary Judith Jackson, of Glasshouses, Harrogate.

The inter-breed sheep championship, open to breeds on the RBST priority and minority list, plus selected native breeds, went to an eight-month-old Ryeland Down ram lamb from Margaret Hipps, of Hardgate Farm, Bishop Thornton, Harrogate.

Successful on what was her first appearance as an exhibitor at the Skipton fixture, Mrs Hipps is well-known in Ryeland circles, having sent out past champions at both the Great Yorkshire and Royal Lancashire Shows. The victor, Ryeland Hardgate Hal, received the Dales Support Group Perpetual Challenge Trophy and £150 cash.

Reserve inter-breed champion and winner of the Dales Support Group Shield, plus £75 cash, was another Ryeland Down, this time a seven-month-old ewe lamb from show regular Sylvia Halmshaw, of Stobthorn Farm, Long Lane, Brompton, Northallerton.

Reserve male champion was an Oxford Down ram from Roger and Sue Banks, of Holly Croft Farm, Great Ellingham, Norfolk, with the reserve female championship awarded to a Wensleydale ewe exhibited by breed stalwart Yvonne Mudd, of Thistle Manor, Thistle Hill, Knaresborough.

In a separate show and sale of pedigree Hampshire Down sheep on behalf of the Hampshire Down Sheep Breeders Association, the champion was a December, 2005, ewe lamb from the noted Melkett flock of Philip and Jackie Kettle, of Main Street, Buckminster, near Grantham. The victor was the daughter of Melkett Scoop, which landed the inter-breed championship for the Kettles at the 2005 Skipton rare and native breeds show.

A white pedigree dairy Shorthorn third calver secured the cattle championship and £100 first prize for another first-time exhibitor at Skipton, Mick Thuey, of Thornton Lodge Farm, Easingwold, York. The victor is in-calf to Mr Thuey’s own bull Blonde. The reserve cattle champion was a Dexter cow from P&P Butler, of Carr House Farm, Barnoldswick,

Chris Green, of Till Carr Farm, Lightcliffe, Halifax, was a first prize winner in the pigs classes with his rare breed Berkshire female, Brandy Royal Lustre, and her 11-strong litter of pure-bred piglets.

The event saw a host of attractions taking place throughout the day, including the Gray’s Border Fine Arts event, Shetland pony and trap rides, display of working tractors, The British Legion Band, spinning, knitting and other demonstrations, along with craft and food stalls, many promoting locally grown produce.

Also on the menu were the Craven Feather Auctions of poultry and fowl, plus ever-popular Agri-Trader Auctions featuring sales of machinery, reclamation and salvage, garden, antique, homemaker and lifestyle lots.

Ryeland Downs took both the inter-breed championship and reserve championship at Skipton. Victor Margaret Hipps, left, is joined by runner-up Sylvia Halmshaw and main sponsor Nick Gray, centre.	Jackie Kettle is pictured with her Skipton Hampshire Down champion.
Mick Thuey with his pedigree Shorthorn, the Skipton native breeds cattle champion.	Roger Banks is pictured left with the reserve inter-breed male champion at Skipton and main sponsor Nick Gray.
Chris Green with his first prize winning Berkshire female and litter.

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