It was a repeat of last year in the sheep lines with the supreme inter-breed title going to once again going to Percy Tait’s home-bred British Rouge ewe. The home-bred five-year-old by Knighton Bugley, had earlier won the shortwool/lowland female championship.
Rouge and inter-breed champion from Percy Tait
It was a successful show for Mr Tait from Worcester who as well as taking the reserve Rouge championship with an aged ram, took the Charollais championship and the terminal sire championship with another aged ram, by Eurostar, out of a ewe bred by May Tulloch of the Rutland flock.
The reserve inter-bred championship and the champion hill female title went to Willie and Jimmy Thomson, Kelso, with their North Country Cheviot shearling ewe by Synton Simba. Having her first show ring outing she is a grand-daughter of the Thomson’s 2008 Great Yorkshire inter-breed champion and was giving them a seventh breed title at the show.
One of the three inter-breed judges, John Geldard, Cumbria, said ‘the championship was an outstanding show of sheep with the champion and reserve very hard to fault. The Rouge carried herself extremely well for her age, with correctness and good conformation, but Cheviot is a sheep we will see a lot more of in the future.’
Taking the shortwool/lowland male championship was Stuart Goldie, Thirsk, with his Bleu de Main champion, a shearling ram, by Churchbridge Warrior, which was bought at Carlisle last year from breeders, Simon Norman and Margery Vile, Somerset. This was its second outing having been one of the inter-breed champion pairs at the Royal Highland Show.
Texel champion and champion female of the terminal sire breeds was a shearling ewe, by Haddo Ringleader from Proctors Farms, Clitheroe, Lancashire, which had been breed champion at Cumberland County on her previous outing.
Fran and Ron Wilson, Carlisle, Cumbria took the commercial female championship with a three-shear Mule ewe which had been bought as a gimmer lamb at Bentham from the Rawsthorne flock.
The champion Longwool male was the Bluefaced Leicester male champion, Addingham B1, a three-shear ram from David Henderson, Hawick, Roxburghshire, which was bought at Kelso as a shearling. The Bluefaced Leicester female, reserve female and reserve male championships all went to A.G. and D. Bisset, Hexham, Northumberland.
