Farmhouse Fare four-timer at Great Northern pork pie highlight         

There’s no keeping a champion pie-maker down!

Farmhouse Fare in Skipton won its fourth successive championship at the fifth annual Great Northern Pork Pie Competition, which ran alongside the 2013 Christmas primestock shows at Skipton Auction Mart. (Sun, Dec 1)

The business, which makes pies at its Skipton bakery and sells them through its own retail shop in the town’s High Street, again clinched the title with its first prize stand pie.

Farmhouse Fare’s Janet Green was over the moon at the shop’s continuing domination of the annual contest and dedicated the coup in honour of her late father Ted Lee, founder of the business, who died earlier this year. The shop was also runner-up in the speciality pie class and third in a new competition class for sausage rolls.

The reserve pork pie championship was awarded to the first prize traditional pork pie from Robinsons Farm Shop in Halifax, which was also responsible for the second prize stand pie.

The speciality pie first prize winner was Lunds Family Butchers in Keighley, which also submitted the third prize traditional pork pie. Runner-up in the same class was Geo Middlemiss & Son, of Otley, which achieved its own first prize success in the Scotch eggs competition class.

Haighs Farm Shop in Mirfield finished third in the stand pie class, as did J Brindon Addy Butchers, of Hade Edge, Holmfirth, in the speciality pie class. All entries were again judged by a panel of pork pie experts and aficionados.

Janette Pate, of Gisburn, presented the first prize sausage roll, with Beamsley’s Cathy Cromarty in third place. Two Valleys Fresh Produce in Meltham, Holmfirth, had the second prize Scotch eggs, with Brimham’s Jackie Bradley placed third.

A standalone competition class for fruit cakes, notably popular among farming ladies, was won by Dorothy Dean, of Threshfield, with Lothersdale’s Margaret Booth finishing runner-up and Judith Throup, of Silsden, third.

A fodder hay competition was won by the first prize bale of old meadow hay from Starbotton’s Richard Close, while a new competition class for walking sticks and crooks proved extremely popular. The inaugural winner was 70-year-old George Smithson, of Kirkbride, near Wigton in Cumbria, who has been hand-crafting sticks since he was a boy of 12 and has won numerous championships over the years.

There was again a major charity element to the day, with pork pies, fruit cakes, Scotch eggs, sausage rolls and fodder – all donated by willing participants, plus generous donations by many others - auctioned off in the main ring to a host of enthusiastic bidders. Over £3,000 was raised for Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice in Oxenhope,