The Browns were also responsible for the third prize Continental pen, five same way bred 37kg Beltex sold for £119 each, again to Vivers.

Show judge Chris Staines, primestock buyer for St Merryn Foods in Merthyr Tydfil, awarded the reserve championship to the second prize 38kg Beltex-cross pen from Trawden’s Hayley Baines. They made £114 each when joining Saltaire butcher Dick Binns.

Mr Staines was also in action at the ringside when paying £84 per head for the first prize pen of 44kg horned lambs, Swaledales from MIR Heseltine, of Summerbridge, while the show class for Suffolk-cross lambs saw first and second prizes fall to 50kg and 51kg pens both from PA&NS Tattersall, of Ellerton, York. The red rosette winners sold for £93.50 each to Riley Bros Butchers in Crawshawbooth, Rossendale, the runners-up for £95.50 to Felliscliffe’s Andrew Atkinson.

However, it was the third prize 61kg pen from Newark’s Steve Dorey that achieved top price in class at £102 per head when falling to Stanforths Butchers in Skipton. Mr Dorey was also responsible for the first and second prize Mule pens, the 57kg victors joining Andrew Atkinson for £92.50 each, with the 56kg runners-up becoming a further Stanforths Butchers buy at £93 apiece.

With a turnout of almost 3,400 prime and lightweight hogs, trade for smart lambs was described as “fierce,” with plenty of the best end making £3 per kilo. Nice commercial lambs around 38kg to 42kg were a good bit dearer on the week, with this class of lamb, especially if farm assured, receiving a good following. The 36kg to 45kg weight category averaged 203.4p/kg.

While hill lambs were forward in larger numbers, they did not dent the average in any way. Good Mules weighing 43kg to 47kg made around 190p/kg and just over in some cases. The overall prime hogg selling average was £84.09 per head, or 197.2p/kg.

The fixture also saw the return to market of four Mule hoggs originally sold at Skipton last December at Addingham & District Sheep Breeders’ Association’s eight annual charity wether lambs show and sale in aid of Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice in Oxenhope.

The champion, first purchased by show sponsor Chris Pearson, of Pearson Farm Supplies in West Marton, along with three others bought by Craven Cattle Marts’ chairman Anthony Hewetson, of Bank Newton, had been fed since by Skipton regular Steve Dorey, of Newark. The title winner resold for £110 to Mo Alam, of Lancashire Direct Halal Meat in Blackburn, while the remaining trio made £92 each, further boosting the £3,337 raised at last year’s showcase.

In the cast sheep classes, the modest turnout of 178 cull ewes produced an extremely sharp trade, with horned ewes and leaner types looking dear when compared to heavy ewes. The overall selling average was £82.32 per head, with a high of £139.50 twice for two Texel pens from Hellifield teenager William Watson. The ten cast rams forward averaged £98.70 each, with William Watson leading the way again with a Dorset at £119.50.

The mart also held the year’s opening weekly sale of sheep with lambs at foot and, with numbers short of requirements, trade was brisk, with all outfits selling well into three figures, headed at £195 for Suffolk ewes and twin lambs, with Texel ewes and twins making to £180 per outfit and correct Mule ewes and twins trading to £165.

“As ever, we ask that vendors advise the mart office of entries for the following Monday’s sale, so that an online catalogue can be prepared to advise buyers of anticipated numbers,” noted CCM’s livestock sales manager Ted Ogden.

Skipton’s final Wednesday seasonal store lamb sale was staged the previous week, when the 316-strong entry sold to an overall average just shy of £60 per head, with a top of £78 each for a Beltex pen from A&G Midgley, of Ludendenfoot, closely followed at £76 each by a Texel pen from Skipton’s Keith and Jeanette Marshall.