It also featured Spring shows for store cattle and beef feeding cows. In the former,  judged by Brad Thompson, of Middleton, Pickering, the red rosette-winning British Blue-cross heifer came from mart regular Brian Lund, from Walshaw, Hebden Bridge.
 
His home-bred 13-month-old, by a Welsh-bred sire from Rhys Millichap’s Rhymill herd, and the second calf of a Limousin-cross cow, sold for the day’s leading heifer price of £1,400 to John Wood in Trawden. Picking up second and third prizes were the Fawcet family, from Drebley, with Blue-cross heifers both sold at £1,250.
 
The beef-bred feeding cows show attracted 55 entries, and with some nice pure-breds among leaner cross-bred cows there was a larger company of buyers ringside. The three rosette winners did best on price, though in reverse order.
 
Trade topped at £1,460 for the third prize winner, a young British Blue cow from John and Gill Huck in Hubberholme, with the runner-up, another Blue from L Driver & Son, of Oakenshaw, making £1,450, and the class winner, a Limousin from Heywood’s Paul Fletcher, netting £1,350. The section achieved an overall selling average of £972 per head.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  An exceptional turnout of 222 young feeding bulls, with vendors released from lambing and a ring full of eager buyers, saw a total of 19 bulls under 12-months-old sell for over £1,200 to a top of £1,290 and the overall average for this grade was up £40 to stand at £1,028. The top individual call was £1,390 for a Limousin-cross.
 
Back in the store cattle lines, the entry of 546 head attracted increased bullock numbers, with buyers arriving from far and wide to make a start on their summer grazing requirements. Yearlings were the strongest trade seen for some time, while heifers found new homes at prices ranging from £1,050 to £1,250, with some exceptional sorts up to £1,400.
 
As usual for the time of year, some larger runs of matched grazing cattle also found a keen ringside. Among many eye-catchers were Tom Boothman, of Linton, with a pen of six Galloway-cross-Limousin bullocks at £1,340 each and another pen of three making more at £1,460. Stuart Verity, of Whirewell also sold five separate pens of 18-month-old British Blue bullocks up to £1,210.
 
All but one of the 11 breeding cattle outfits on parade sold into four figures, peaking at £2,100 for a Limousin-cross heifer with Limousin-cross bull calf at foot from James and Deborah Ogden in Austwick, claimed by a Welsh buyer.