Glory day for Calderdale’s Leach family at CCM Skipton Christmas prime lambs highlight

The Leach’s of Owlers Farm, Hebden Bridge claimed top honours in show with their first and second prize over 40kg trimmed Continental-x lamb pens, home-bred Beltex trios, also lowland champions and reserve.

Like their son’s young handlers victor, all the lambs were by a tup known as Padkin Full Monty acquired last year from Scottish breeder Alistair Padkin, out of both home-bred ewes and others from local breeders Anthony Thompson and Emma Dalby, of Foulridge.

Notching up a notable hat-trick when purchasing the supreme champion 40.6kg lambs from a very strong show class for the third consecutive year - and at a sale-topping £380 per head, or £9.34 per kilo – were Cropper Family Butchers & Deli in Accrington, run by father and daughter George Cropper and Clare Mellin.

Again for the second year running, the Blackburn Road shop also snapped up young Charlie’s 41kg young handlers’ victor, retaining the Hannah Brown Memorial Trophy, first presented last year by her parents, Leyburn’s Martin and Val Brown in memory of their daughter. The selling price was £270, or £6.58p/kg.

The Leach family’s 45.6kg reserve supreme champions – they also stood reserve overall last year - made £260 each, or £5.69 p/kg, when going to Charles Haigh, of Haigh’s Farm Shop in Mirfield, who had earlier co-judged the festive prime cattle show classes.

Returning to the young handlers, standing reserve champion was another Calderdale youngster and supreme champion Charlie Leach’s friend at Old Town Primary School in Hebden Bridge, Daniel Lund, ten-year-old son of Rob and Tansy Lund, from Peckett Well, his 47kg home-bred Beltex-x falling for £250, or £5.31p/kg, to young handlers and lowland section show judge, regular Skipton buyer Andrew Atkinson, of Kettlesing, Harrogate.

Hill lambs champions for the second year running were the Hutchinson family, from Faceby in Hambleton, with a trio of Scottish Blackface wether lambs, selling at £145 each, or 288p/kg, to section judge Lister Brown, of Halifax.

The 181 quality butchers lambs on parade sold to an overall average of £137.30 per head, or 299.7p/kg.

Jon Midgley, who runs his Upper Calder Valley Beltex flock at Dean House Farm, Luddendenfoot, stood supreme champion in the same day’s standalone lamb carcase competition.

The Calderdale sheep farmer claimed top honours with his first prize winner in the under 41kg Continental class, a home-bred Beltex by an Ainstable tup that was also responsible for Mr Midgley’s supreme champion prime lamb trio at Skipton 2021’s festive showcase, when he successfully defended the coveted title he also won the previous year.

Also selling a Continental carcase at £165 was James Drake, of Denholme, winner of a £50 voucher awarded by Northern Area Texel Sheep Breeders Club for the highest placed Texel-sired lamb carcase in the under-41kg class.

In the Christmas prime cattle show, taking the reserve male championship was the second prize 580-680kg Continental-x steer, a 598kg Blue-x from the Jowett family in Queensbury, going to Knavesmire Butchers in York, for 389p/kg, or £2,329. The Jowetts also finished runners-up in under-580kg Continental-x heifer class with a 550kg entry that formed part of a bulging Bradford-based Ralph Pearson Wholesale Butchers festive shopping basket at 347p/kg, or £1,911.

The pick of the natives when clinching first prize in its under 680kg class was a pure-bred Aberdeen-Angus from Skipton’s Alistair Lawn, which weighed in at 621kg and joined James Robertshaw, of Robertshaw’s Farm Shop in Thornton, above Bradford, at 283p/kg, or £1,757.