IT WASN’T all ‘plane’ sailing for some intrepid Texel breeders from west Cumbria who had thought it a wizard wheeze to ensnare the services of one of their newly-qualified pilot pals to fly them over to Ballymena, in Northern Ireland, for the main Texel sale there.

However, the plane that they had travelled to Ireland on – which took just a jiffy to get them there, compared to travelling hundreds of miles by road and then a ferry – skidded on landing and crashed through a fence.

This landing was heralded by the strong smell of ‘excitement’ from the passengers, as the plane ripped out 100 metres of Rylock surround the landing field, which was just south of the international airport at Aldergrove. All were safe, though the plane is, apparently, a write-off.

The passengers, Harry Wilkinson, of the Arkle flock, Alan Mounsey, Wardhall flock, and Matt Stockdale, of the Mattadale flock, were shaken to the extent that, unusually, they did not buy any sheep when they got to the sale. It was intimated that they were maybe too scared to flap their arms to bid, in case they took off again!

Needless to say, a safe trip by road made up the return journey.