North Country Cheviot breeder Andrew Polson and his family from Caithness, secured the first ever show champion of champions title at the Black Isle, last week.

The event drew a near record attendance with numbers through the gate up by almost 2000 people and this year introduced the Glaickmore Cup for the best animal from the overall beef, sheep, horse and fur and feather champions which was judged by NFU Scotland vice-president and south-west dairy farmer Gary Mitchell.

Securing a personal  for Andrew, his wife Kerry and daughters Shannon and Christina, was their home-bred two-crop ewe from their Smerlie flock at Lybster, which is run alongside Andrew’s engineering company Enerquip.

By the £6200 Durran Rover, a tup bought at Quoybrae in 2014, she is out of a home-bred ewe by a Biggins tup and stood supreme sheep at Latheron and Caithness and was champion here as a gimmer.

The Polson family had plenty more to celebrate when they won the inter-breed groups earlier on in the day, while a trio of Blue Texels from Debroah Atkinson’s 10-ewe Tap O Noth flock near Insch, settled for reserve.

Aberdeenshire duo Blair Duffton and Rebecca Stuart of Huntly and Insch, also had a memorable Black Isle Show when they stood reserve overall champion of champions with their overall beef champion, a 20-month-old Limousin cross heifer named Shaniqua. Almost unbeaten in this year’s north show circuit so far, this Lodge Hamlet daughter has scooped three inter-breed successes and two reserves over the past month and was crowned champion of champions at Banchory.

The pair also won silverware for the best pair and best three beef animals with black Limousin crosses, while Simmentals from Billy and Anne MacPherson’s Blackford herd at Croy, took the reserve honours in the pairs and Simmys from the Green family's Corskie herd in groups.

The runner-up title in the beef went to the MacPherson’s two-year-old heifer Blackford Hyalite, a daughter of the 18,000gns Kilbride Farm Doubleaction, out of the Blackford Valmer-sired cow, Blackford Amber. As a calf, Hyalite was junior female champion at the breed’s national show at Perth, last year.

The Charollais sheep leader from Ingram brothers Gregor and Bruce from Logie Durno, Inverurie, stood reserve. Brought out by parents Willie and Carole and sister Amy, was the boys’ Highland Show champion, a two-crop home-bred ewe named Loanhead Riverdance by Crogham Hannibal, out of a home-bred ewe. She was also part of the supreme inter-breed pair at the Royal Welsh.

Overall horse champion was the Clydesdale leader from Eric and Miranda Johnstone, Highfield Circle, Muir of Ord. This was Ord Tinkerbell, a two-year-old filly by Eskechraggan Ernest, out of Ord Envy, which won the coveted Cawdor Cup for the Clydesdale championship at this year’s Highland. Tinkerbell has a number of championships under her belt including the National Stallion Show, won last year.