Once again it was the Hawes sale which provided the highlights of the Blue Faced Leicester sale season. They didn't set any records, or even, unusually have the highest price of the year, but a strong trade saw averages jump £105 on the year for 64 more lambs sold, reflecting a slowly growing confidence amongst breeders after a year of hard knocks.
Highlight of the day, both in terms of price as well as entertainment in the ring, came from the Hundith flock of Jack Lawson, quite a character as well as renowned breeder, who saw his first lamb sell for £11,500 to WA Booth's, Feizor. The lamb had been placed forth in the pre sale show by the judges, Michael James and John Thorpe, and was eagerly anticipated in the ring. He was by an £8500 Midlock which was bought in 2006 and is proving to be a good sire in both the mule and pure bred lines. The Lawson's had a great trade right through their consignment, finishing with some very impressive figures, with an average of £2750 for 8 lambs forward.
The leading flock average came from over the Border, as Allan Wight from the Midlock flock recorded his highest price for a Leicester lamb selling his much coveted X1 Riddings sired tup for £10,000. The lamb, out of a ewe by the £17,000 Bull & Cave, was pushed all the way to the mark by John Kerr, Craigskean, but was pipped at the post by some strong bidding by a Northumberland group consisting of Martin Archer (Carry House), James Herdman (Edlingham) and Messrs Snaith (Clennel). The Midlock pen levelled out at £3900 for four lambs, reflecting the demand for strong, well made lambs combined with proven genetics.
It was another good day at the office for Hewgill flock enjoyed a good run, demand fired by a run of 3 champion pens of mules at 3 different centres, culminating in their Hawes pen selling at an impressive £380 a head. Leading the pack was a bid of £11,000 for a lamb by K1 Lunesdale, who in the past laid some of the foundations for the current success of the Lord's flock. He has long since passed on, but some semen was frozen and is being used sparingly in the flock to retain the genetics, indeed the Lord's have kept the full brother of this lamb for their own use. The final bidders were the Kirkby Redgate flock from Richard Hutchinson and Eric Nelson, Bull & Cave. The pen of lambs from the Lords sold well throughout, averaging £1912 for 12 lambs.
Kirkby Redgate were able to fund their new purchase with the sale of their first lamb into the ring, by the Hewgill Y25 which they purchased privately last year, and is proving quite an investment as 9 in the Redgate top pen of mules, selling for £210 were by him and 6 in the second 10 too. The bidding set of at £1000 and climbed at a quick £1000 jumps quickly to £8000, with Paul Brown and Colin Lowis joining together to buy the lamb. The Redgate pen again saw a strong demand and their 9 lambs averaged £2033.
Once again at Hawes it was the noted mule breeders turning the sheep into cash, with buyers being selective about the bloodlines they were investing. One flock which saw their mule lambs top out at £300 for their top pen followed this up with a strong trade, as Messrs Busby scored their highest price at the sale, selling their second lamb to Alan Lodge, Malham Moor for a healthy £5600, and ended with a great average of £1571 for 11 lambs sold.
The top aged ram was a Gordon Rawsthorne bred tup from WA Booth, Feizor, who sold him to Paul Hallam in a £4600 deal.
The champion of the day came from Cecil Hutchinson, who clinched his 3 rd title in 26 years of selling at Hawes. His lamb had already stood champion at Wensley and Danby shows, so was no stranger to the red ticket. It sold for £2000 to welsh breeder Ricky Lund. Another Welsh breeder at Hawes took the res championship ticket, when David and Stephen Abberley won the blue ticket with their A3 Old Hemley lamb, which sold back into Wales to J Thomas, Tan House for £1000
With a strong demand for top genetics and an increasing eye on the confirmation and carcase of the tups buyers were being quite selective, and the tups had to be backed up with the mule breeding bloodlines to stand a chance of making the big bucks, but trade was also strong for the middle run of tups, with most tups finding new homes. Over the next few years one can see the continued development and emphasis of the confirmation and carcase quality affecting not just the sales of the rams, but improving the quality of the national sheep flock in the country, such is the influence of the breed.
Leading Prices : JJ & E Lawson, £11,500, £1900, £1800 x 2, £1700, £1200, £1100, £1000. M/s Lord, £11,000, £1,800, £1,700, £1200 x 2, £1100, £1000 x 2. J Wight & Sons, £10,000, £2800, £1500, £1300.WM Hutchinson & Son, £8000, £3500, £2200, £1050, RA Busby, £5600, £3000, £1900, £1350, £1100, £1000 x 2.J Nelson & Son, £4600, £1700, £1200, £1000 x 4. E Fairburn & Sons, £4200, £2200, £1100, £1000 x 2.RJD Wilson , £3700. KA Brown, £3000, £2000, £1300. DJ Abberley, £3000, £1000. AV Caton, £2900, £1800, £1300, £1100.GP Taylor, £2500, £1600, £1500, WC Porter & Son, £2400, £1800, £1700, £1300, £1200 x 3, £1150, £1000,AC Hutchinson, £2000, DA & MA Brown & Son, £2000, £1000, WJ & LA Barker, £2000, £1600, £1050,AJ Mason, £1900, £1500, £1200, D & HM Watson, £1800, £1600 x 2, £1300 x 2, £1100,W & D Lawson & Son, £1800, £1500, £1000, WA & A Booth, £1800, R & PE Hargreaves & Sons, £1600, £1500,P Webster, £1150, £1080, W & CW Dent, £1100, £1000 x 2, Ellis Bros, £1050, KW & J Clarkson, £1050, £1000,P Brown, £1050, CT & JE Willoughby, £1000, J Thomas & Son, £1000, KA Fawcett & Sons, £1000 x 2
Leading Flock Averages : J Wight & Sons £3900 for 4, JJ & E Lawson, £2750 for 8, RJD Wilson , £2075 for 2,WM Hutchinson & Son, £2033 for 9, M/S Lord, £1912 for 12, D J Abberley, £1566 for 3, RA Busby & Son, £1561 for 11 D & HM Watson, £1450 for 6, GP Taylor & Sons, £1440 for 5, J Nelson & Son, £1345 for 10, KA Brown & Sons, £1333 for 6, W & D Lawson & Son, £1220 for 5.
R & F Wilson £3700 |
D Abberley £3000 |
Champion from Cecil
Hutchinson, selling for £2000 |
Res from D Abberley sold for £1000 |
