| 2019-09-06 |    |
Wensleydale Ram Lamb Achieves Record Price at Skipton
Nick Oliver's home-bred ram lamb set a new breed society record price of 850gns for a tup lamb at the 128th annual Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Breeders Association show and sale at Skipton Auction Mart. (Sat, Aug 31)
He achieved it with the first prize and best fleshed ram lamb, one of twins by Princethorpe Carlsberg, acquired from Warwickshire breeder Dr Lynn Clouder and still being used as a stock tup. The same ram was also responsible for the Skipton reserve champion two years earlier.
Sophie and Katie Oliver with their father Nick’s Wensleydale ewe lamb
Out of a dam by Endrigs Celebration, the ram lamb finished third in its breed show class and reserve champion local inter-breed at this year’s Leyburn Show. The buyer was Jack De’Cova, from Stowupland in Suffolk, who was establishing his foundation flock.
Mr Oliver, who hails from where the renowned breed was first established back in the 1880s, also stood female and overall reserve champion with his first prize ewe lamb by Providence Samson, acquired from Mark Elliott’s Providence flock at Ferrensby, near Knaresborough. Out of another Princethorpe Carlsberg-sired Carperby Pastures dam, it sold for 300gns to Jennifer Hunter in Carlisle.
It was Mr Elliott who clinched the 2019 Skipton championship with his first prize shearling ram and male champion, Providence Hullabaloo, though this one failed to meet its reserve price and returned home.
However, Mr Elliott, a multiple past Skipton champion, also consigned the first prize aged ram, the 2017-born Providence Percy, who stood male champion at this year’s Great Yorkshire Show and is by Gedgrave Cyril, acquired from Tracy Ranger, who was originally based in Suffolk, but now lives in Orkney. Percy sold for 240gns to Northumbrian breeders John and Shelagh Prescott, who run their West End flock in Longhorsley, Morpeth.
Second top call of 400gns twice fell to a brace of gimmer shearlings from the Prescotts themselves. One, a home-bred by Nosterfield Blue Boy, also fell to Mr De’Cova, with the second, a Wensleydale Black shearling ewe by West End Starling joining Welsh breeder Joshua Page in Llangadog, Carmarthenshire.
The first prize shearling ewe came from Mary Smith’s Brimham flock, originally based in Summerbridge, before she moved to her current home north of the border in Ayr in 2012 with husband Mark and son, Dan. By Providence Peter, bought from the Elliotts as a shearling in 2014, out a Hilary Menzies Leaston dam, the class victor sold for 300gns to NS Ponting, another new member from Stanford in the Vale in Berkshire.
Mrs Smith also headed the ewe lamb prices at 380gns with her class runner-up, a home-bred by Brimham Lucas claimed by the 2018 Skipton champion and reserve champions, mother and daughter, Julie and Anna Pennell, of Redworth, near Darlington, for their Nipna flock. Anna is the WLSBA hon. secretary.
The remaining show class for aged ewes resulted in a clean sweep of the prizes for 2017-born entries from North Yorkshire breeder Christine Haslam, who runs the Elmfield flock in Arrathorne, Bedale. Both the winner and runner-up were home-bred by Nosterfield Survivor, the third from Carperby Pastures. Two of the trio sold at 160gns.
Shearling ewes saw a particularly good trade, with plenty of bidders for all grades and a strong overall average of £271 per head, well up on the previous year’s £182. Ewe lambs did even better, averaging £278, here again a significant increase on the previous year’s £201.
Ram lambs averaged £315, a hefty rise on the 2018 average of £118, while the shearling ram average of £234.50 also represented an increase on the previous year’s £213. Show judge was Ferrensby’s Roger Field.
The WLSBA’s Anna Pennell said:
“It was encouraging to see such a busy ringside and interest in the Wensleydales from both new and old members. With several new flocks being established at the sale, alongside the hard work of long-established breeders, it was pleasing to see both average prices attain the deserved levels for our hard-working breeders, as well as exciting peaks, including the new breed society ram lamb record.
“The demand for the Wensleydale Longwool Sheep continues to grow as the fleece price continues to prove a worthy asset to this rare Longwool.
With British Wool prices now at the highest level of £6/kg, plus a strong private fleece market, alongside the breed’s continued use as a high quality crossing sire adding size and strength to any flock we hope to see the Wensleydale continue going from strength to strength.”
