Brown Beltex lambs reign supreme again at Skipton Christmas highlight

The Brown family – husband and wife Martin and Val, and their daughter Hannah, of Beechwood House Farm, Newton-le-Willows, Bedale – retained their 2012 supreme champion prime lamb championship at Skipton Auction Mart’s sixth annual Lingfield Christmas primestock shows and sales. (Sun, Dec 1)

The Browns, who constantly perform well at the climax of Skipton’s primestock year, a seasonal highlight for the region’s farmers, leading independent retail butchers and meat wholesalers, claimed the 2013 title with their first prize pen of three 36kg Beltex-cross trimmed lambs, also lowland champions.

They sold for the day’s leading price of £420 per head to Lancashire butcher George Cropper. The three title winners had a dead weight average of exactly 21kg, with a 58.3% killing out ratio.

Mr Cropper, who runs his shop in Accrington Market with his daughter Clare, from Long Preston, also purchased the same day’s lamb carcase supreme champion, another Beltex. All their acquisitions be on sale in the run-up to Christmas.

The same class was also responsible for the reserve supreme champion 36kg Beltex-cross prime lambs from Robert Garth and Kelly Armitage, of Bentham, which fell for second top price of £175 each to Skipton regular and show co-judge Anthony Swales, who runs Knavesmire Butchers in Albermarle Road, York.

Mr Swales also bought two further prize-winning pens for Knavesmire Butchers, the first prize 40kg Beltex-cross untrimmed lambs, again from Robert Garth and Kelly Armitage, at £155 per head, and the second prize 37kg Continental-cross untrimmed lambs from Stainforth’s Richard Caton, at £140 per head.

The Brown family also sent out further prize-winning Beltex-cross pens – the first prize 36kg untrimmed lambs, the second prize 44kg untrimmed pen and the third prize 47kg trimmed pen. All three fell to Vivers Scot Lamb in Anan for £150, £140 and £135 per head respectively.

Robert Garth and Kelly Armitage chipped in further with the second prize 49kg Beltex-cross pen, sold for £140 each to John Summers Butchers in Clayton, Bradford, with the first prize in class falling to a 45kg pen from Stephen Pepper, of Oxenhope, which also sold to Vivers Scot Lamb for a class-topping £145 per head.

Vivers also acquired two further third prize Continental-cross pens - 43kg untrimmed lambs from Richard Caton at £135 each and 37kg trimmed lambs from Sarah Eddleston, of Great Harwood, at £120 per head. Neil Caton, of Stainforth, sold his third prize pen of 38kg Continental-cross untrimmed lambs for £128 each to Ian and Mary Lancaster, of Clitheroe.

The Suffolk-cross show class saw first and second prizes fall to the Thompson family in Foulridge. Anthony Thompson sold his 40kg runners-up to Roy Schofield, buying on behalf of meat wholesaler MJ Birtwhistle in Worsley, Manchester, only to be surpassed by his young son Jack, who saw his 46kg red rosette winners fall for a class-topping £110 per head to Cross Roads butcher Paul Leadbeater.

In the show section for hill-bred prime lambs, the championship was awarded to the first prize pen of three 53kg Mashams from Kevin Wilson, of Blubberhouses. They sold for a section-topping £95 per head to Hellifield’s Paul Watson.

Swaledale Foods, now based in Keighley, but soon to move to a new unit in Skipton, bought the first prize and reserve champion hill-bred 50kg Mule lambs pen from Joe and Nancy Throup, of Draughton, at £88 per head.

The business also acquired two further prize-winning pens through its ringside representative and show co-judge James Dewhirst - the second placed 55kg Mashams from Michael and David Wilson, of Beckwithshaw, at £84 each, and the second prize 43kg Dalesbred lambs from David Verity, of Middlesmoor, at £74 per head.

The Wilsons were also responsible for the third prize 52kg Masham pen, sold for £79 per head to Halifax meat wholesalers J&E Medcalf, while Kevin Wilson stepped up with the second prize 52kg Mule pen, which also fell to Paul Watson for £79 each.

Further Watson acquisitions were the second and third prize 45kg and 44kg Swaledale pens from John Smith, of Carleton, and Skipton’s John Addyman at £76 and £70 per head respectively, the first and third prize 45kg and 47kg Dalesbred pens from Frank Carr, of Malham, and Joe and Trevor Stoney, of Pateley Bridge, at £72 and £75 apiece respectively, and the second prize other hill breed pen from Grain Farms in Wadsworth at £74 per head.

Another regular Skipton buyer, Andrew Atkinson, of Felliscliffe, also acquired a number a prize-winning pens, the first prize 46kg Swaledales from Calton’s Robert Crisp at £74 each, the first prize 45kg other hill breed pen from Grain Farms at £80 per head, and the third prize 44kg other hill breed pen for £74 each.

Mr Crisp was also responsible for the third prize 46kg Mule pen, which joined Henry Atkinson, of Felliscliffe, for £80 each.