The overall Texel shearlings average was £179 and while this represented an anticipated fall on the £185 seen at the opening sale, it showed a marked improvement on last year’s average of £154. North of England Mule shearlings averaged £176, exactly the same as the opener, though again up on £146 in 2020.

A brace of gimmer shearling show classes saw last year’s victors, the Ribble Valley’s Thomas and Sheila Binns, of Hecklin Farm, Downham, again finish first, plus third, in the Mules show class for pens of ten, all as usual purchased as gimmer lambs at the previous year’s North of England Mule Sheep Association (NEMSA) sales at Skipton.

All returned having successfully bred lambs, the red rosette winners selling for joint top price in section of £202 per head, a price matched by the second prize pen, this too for the second year running, from JE Thwaite, of Barden, again shown by son-in-law David Pighills, other pens from the same home making £200, £198, £192 and £190. Mr and Mrs Binns arrived with their annual 184-strong consignment of North of England Mules and Texel-cross-Mules, a pen of the latter making £220, the whole averaging £193.19.

The Continentals show class was won for the fourth time in recent years by Lambert and Joy Coverdale and their son, also Lambert, from Crimple Meadow Farm, Beckwithshaw, with ten Cheviot Mules by Texel-x tups, a route the family says it is now following to produce sheep with both scale and power and dual-purpose lambs for both breeding and retail markets. Their charges sold for £220 each.

David Pinder and his daughter, Sally, of Hill House Farm, Newton-in-Bowland, Continental victors in 2020, were again to the fore when standing second and third in show with Texel-cross shearlings, all by Skipton-bought tups, out of Cheviot ewes. The runners-up made £245 per head, others from the same home also catching the eye at £240, £235 and £215.

Tosside brothers, Trevor and Clive Robinson, claimed the day’s bragging rights when presenting the £265 top price gimmer shearlings, a Beltex pen purchased by C Greg, of Masham. Show classes were judged by Black Lane Ends father and son, John and James Mellin.

Again on the same day’s agenda was the annual Charollais rams sale-only, with top price of 550gns among the 29 head forward again falling to Charles Marwood, who runs the Foulrice flock in Whenby, York. His shearling ram joined Ken and Scott Marston in Askwith, Otley. Another shearling ram from DA&H Pickles, of Green Hammerton, made 400gns, the sale producing an overall selling average of £321.