Breed records were well and truly smashed at the annual Bluefaced Leicester breed event at Hawes, when ram lambs not only surpassed the previous best of £37,000, with a £40,000 sale early in the day before another sold for a new high of £65,000.
The usual marathon 14-hour sale which concluded around 11pm saw no fewer than 16 ram lambs attract five-figure prices and an astonishing 43 sell for more than £5000. A new record average of £2338 was also achieved – up a massive £132 on the year and for 70 more sold.
Read more: Kirkstead Bluefaced Leicester attracts Longtown record
The show kicked off at 7.15am, and saw the judges, Billy Kerr, Sauchrie Mains and Gareth Roberts, Anglesey, find their champion in the best from the Riddings flock of James and Margaret Porter, son, Geoffrey and Valerie and their daughter and son, Marian and William.
A triplet-born from an eight-year-old ewe by E1 Swathburn, and sired by last year’s £14,000 Skeughdale, he attracted a £5000 kick off bid and eventually sold for £65,000 to four Scottish breeders to include Malcolm Thornborrow and sons Gary and Craig, of the Dawyck flock from Stobo; Obie Sharp, Newbigging Walls, Lauder, her son in law Colin Campbell of the Happrew flock and Mr Campbell’s niece, Amy Campbell, Glenrath, both Peebles.
A second lamb from the Porter's Riddings flock made £23,000
The Porters No 2 lamb, which stood fourth at the pre-sale show, again by the Skeughdale ram and out of a home-bred ewe by Carry House Jackpot, also made the grade, selling for £23,000 to the Wight family, Midlock, Crawford, and Finlay Robertson, buying for the Beeches flock from West Calder.
P1 Midlock from Allan and Ben Wight made £40,000
The Wight’s Midlock flock set the bar high from the outset, with their pen leader surpassing their own previous best of £37,000 paid here in 2017, when selling for £40,000. This was a grand-son of the Carry House Jackson, being a ram lamb by last year’s M1 Riddings, out of a ewe by the home-bred L27. He was purchased by a team of four North of England buyers comprising Jack Buckle, Shaun Procter, the Pedleys from Yore House and the Pyes from Abbeystead digging deep into their pockets.
Read more: Dawyck pen of Bluefaced Leicester at Kelso
Another from the Midlock pen made £13,000 selling to Lanarkshire breeders, Neil Laing, Perryflatts and Andrew Warnock and son Andrew, Dreva, Broughton, Biggar. He is by the £30,000 Marriforth bought here last year.
Reserve champion from Martyn Archer sold for £28,000
Martyn Archer’ Carry House flock from Hexham, had plenty to celebrate too, winning the reserve championship and a £28,000 price tag with his P1 Carry House lamb. He is by the home-bred Flash, a tup which sired five Mule ewe lambs in the Carry House champion pen at Hexham that sold for £340. Bred from an ET sister to the £10,000 Farden Popeye, he sold to Northern Ireland breeders, Graham and Julie Loughery, Temain and Ian Montgomery, Limavady, with Mr Archer retaining an equal share. His full brother went on to sell for £8000 to Sealhouses.
A brace of tups hit £16,000, the first was from Messrs Lord’s Hewgill flock, sold early in the day. A son of the L7 Riddings bought at Kirkby Stephen a few years back which was again by Carry House Jackpot, he is out of a ewe by the E1 Hewgill. Another quartet of Scottish buyers joined forces for this lad to include the Thornborrows Dawyck, Robert Wallace, Macherquhat, Alan Shennan, Farden and Andrew Campbell, Highland Livestock, Ben Nevis.
Thornborrow's P4 lamb sold for £16,000
Dawyck also had a cracking day selling with three ram lambs selling at five figures. Dearest at £16,000 was their No 4, by last year’s Northern Ireland record holder, the £23,000 Giants Causeway which was by Popeye. He is out of a ewe by L1 Riddings and sold to Gavin White, Hillside and James Middleton, Arncliffe
They then racked up another £15,000 for their No 5 Dawyck lamb, which sold across the Irish Sea with William Adams, Ballymena, Brendan Blaney, Cushendall, Timothy Wray, Carnlough, and Alistair Christie, Ballymoney.
The Thornborrows also sold two sons of the £30,000 M1 Hewgill, with the pen leader making £11,000 to Alec Brown, Macqueston and John Park, Dalpeddar.
Highberries P1 made £15,000 for Neil Marston
Neil Marston’s Highberries flock from Millstone Moor, Cockermouth, enjoyed a great comeback too after an absence of a few years. His pen leader, which made £15,000 was a son of the Highberries M1 while his dam, by the Z4 Hundith which also produced the £8000 ewe lamb sold in the spring at Carlisle, was purchased by Richard Hargreaves of the Barley flock.
Highberries second lamb made £12,000 to Jamie Pirie, Blarnavaid, Drymen, The pedigree behind this lad includes the home-bred ram, Golden Boy, again onto a ewe with Z4 genetics.
On the other side of the coin, Blarnavaid sold two at five-figures with his dearest at £14,000, selling to Archie and John MacGregor, Allanfaulds, Kilsyth, and Malcolm Coubrough, Hartside, Lanarkshire. Bred from last year’s £14,000 Blarnavaid, he is out of a Carry House-bred ewe produced from an embryo from Alan Shennan, Farden
Allanfauld also bought a fifth share of Mr Pirie’s £12,000 lamb, along with Dougie Gray, Drumnessie; Sandy Hunter, Wedderburn; D Cowie, South Gariochsford and Blarnavaid retaining an equal share. He also boasts a first class pedigree with the sire being an N1 Temain bought at Ballymena last year in partnership with Farden, for £19,000, while his dam is a K20 Midlock.
Other top sellers saw Messrs Lawson sell a lamb from his Hundith flock for £14,000 to James Taylor, Bradleyfield, with Hundith retaining a half share.
Richard Hargreaves’ Barley flock sold two at big money, with the first at £12,000, being knocked down to KA Brown and Sons, Asby Hall and GP Taylor and Sons, Swathburn.
Asby Hall also bought a share of the £10,000 Barley lamb alongside Riddings and Easter Dawyck.
Leading the female trade at £1900 was the reserve champion, a ewe lamb from Jimmy Bell’s Lanarkshire-based Cottage flock purchased by the pre-sale judge, Gavin Roberts, buying for the Myfyrian flock in Anglesey. She is by the K13 Cottage ram that has bred sons up to £9500, and bred from the J62 Cottage that was sire by G19 and is a full sister to a tup sold to Luke Ayrton.
LEADING prices
Ram lambs – WC Porter and Son, £65,000 £23,000, £7500; J Wight and Sons, £40,000, £13,000, £9000, £7000, £6500, £5500, £5200, £4200, £2600, £2500; RD Archer and Son, £28,000, £8000, £6000, £3800, £3500; MR Thornborrow, £16,000, £15,000, £11,000, £5000, £3200, £3000; Messrs Lord, £16,000, £7000, £4000, £3500, £3200, £2500, £2400; NC Marston, £15,000, £12,000, £6000, £3000, £2800, £2400; Messrs Lawson, £14,000, £4200; J Pirie, £14,000, £12,000, £2600; R and PE Hargreaves and Sons, £12,000, £10,000, £6000, £3500, £3000, £2600; S Procter, £8500; J and A Brown, £8000, £6000; J Allison and Sons, £8000, £3200, £2600; WM Hutchinson and Son, £8000, £3000; NJ and L Allan, £7500; J Hunter and Sons, £7500, £5500, £4500, £4000, £3000; I and W Jones, £7000, £4000; I and P Brown, £7000, £3500; W and D Lawson and Son £6400; Amy Campbell £6000; E Fairburn and Sons, £5500, £5000, £4000; WM Reed and Sons, £5000, £3200, £3000, £3000; DJ Abberley, £4500, £3200; KA Brown and Sons, £4500, £3600, £3000, £3000, £3000; J Mcquistin and Son, £4500, £4200, £2600; PL Heard, £4400, £3800; WA and A Booth, £4200, £4000, £2800, £2600; RJ Shennan and Sons, £4200, £3500, £3000, £2800; DG Sayers, £4200; S Allan and Sons, £4000; G and HR Shields, £3800, £3500, £3000; JE and SJL James, £3200; C and R Metcalf, £3200, £3000; P Ayrton, £3000; WH and D Gass, £3000; J Bell, £2800; JA and R Caton, £2800; P Ayrton, £2800; F Robertson, £2500; P Fell, £2400; A MacGregor, £2400; WA and GR Sedgley, £2400.
Shearling rams – GA and BB Ainslie, £3500; JA and R Caton, £3000; WA Dinsdale, £1800, £1600; Breck House Enterprise £1800; WC Porter and Son, £1800, £1500, £1300; SD Thompson, £1800;J Wight and Sons, £1600 x3; RA Nelson, £1600; JS Cloughton, £1600; E Fairburn and Sons £1400 x4, £1200, £1000; NJ and L Allan, £1400; T Ladds, £1200; Booth Brothers, £1100; Ellis Bros, £1000.
Aged rams – GA and BB Ainslie, £2000; R and PE Hargreaves and Sons, £1800; JC and E Pedley and Sons, £1600, £1000; GT Davies, £1400 x2; K Adams, £1300; JA and R Caton, £1000; DIL Jones, £1000.
Gimmers – WM and JE Shuttleworth, £700, £650; JC and N Throup, £550; E Fairburn and Sons, £500; WA and GR Sedgley, £500.
Ewe lambs – J Bell, £1900, £1100; GW Whitwell, £950; I Borthwick, £900.
LEADINGflock averages
Flock (No) Ave (£)
Midlock (12) 8216.00
Carry House (7) 7228.00
Dawyck (8) 6900.00
Riddings (18) 6155.00
Blarnavaid (5) 6130.00
Hewgill (10) 4430.00,
Steel (5) 4900.00
Macqueston (4) 4275.00
Highberries (15) 3693.00
Hundith (7) 3614.00
Auctioneers: Hawes Auction Mart.
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