Stuart Currie’s Beautry pedigree flock in Rathmell secured both championship and top price honours at the Northern Beltex Society’s third winter show and sale of pedigree in-lamb ewes at Skipton Auction Mart. (Sat, Dec 13)
Mr Currie’s February-born shearling ewe, Beautry Tania, is a daughter of his top-performing ram, Rathbone Leader, who has been responsible for multiple show champions, including a number at Skipton. He has sired shearling rams to 9,000gns, shearling ewes to 4,500gns and ram lambs to 3,000gns.
Out of Beachy Lynne, one of the original Beautry foundation ewes, and scanned in lamb with twins to the home-bred Beautry Thor, the victor sold for the day’s top call of 1,000gns to the Rathbone pedigree flock of fellow North Craven breeders Michael Davis and his daughter Becky, of Eldroth,
The Davis family then stepped up themselves with the first prize aged ewe and reserve champion, Rathbone Nessia, by the Richard Findlay-bred Westerdale Leonardo, out of a home-bred ewe, Rathbone Henrietta.
It sold for 420gns to T Dunne, of Appleby-in-Westmorland, though it was the Davis’s third prize shearling ewe, Rathbone Take That, by their stock ram Drumchapel Scooby and in-lamb to Holmebeck Tonto, that achieved second top price in show when falling for 480gns to L Seymour, of Maulds Meaburn, Appleby-in-Westmorland.
Mr Currie also sold another Rathbone Leader- sired shearling ewe at 400gns, while the Davis family sold a second aged ewe at 460gns, along with a pair of ewe lambs at 300gns each. All were prizewinners.
With a small, but select entry of eight pedigree Beltex, gimmer lambs averaged £315 (2013 £277), shearling gimmers £658 (£390) and aged ewes £462 (£383).
Making her debut as a show judge was 14-year-old Louise Findlay, of Coverdale, a pupil at St Francis Xavier Secondary School in Richmond. Sponsors were Windle Beech Winthrop and JG Animal Health.
Also on the day’s agenda was the 22nd annual Northern Area Texel Sheep Breeders’ winter show and sale of pedigree in-lamb females (see standalone report), along with the annual sale of individual and small groups of Continental-sired commercial sheep, incorporating dispersal sales of Beltex and Texel females from John Wood, of Trawden, and Texel-cross-Beltex ewes from North Wales breeder David Williams, of Rhudllan.
With 52 in-lamb ewes forward, all classes proved easy to sell on, with a large ringside of buyers keen to purchase MV accredited commercial sheep, which are generally not easy to come by. Mr Wood was first into the ring and achieved a top price of £380 each for a trio of Beltex-cross-Texel two-crop ewes, closely followed at £360 with a pair of three-quarters bred Beltex two-crops.
David Williams’ sheep topped at £480 for a Beltex-cross-Texel shearling carrying twins and £420 for a same way bred two-crop, also carrying twins. The overall selling average was £240.38 per head.