Once again Hawes provided the highlight of the Bluefaced Leicester sale season, producing four five figure sales and a massive £288 increase in the tup lamb averages, which levelled at £1358 for 474 lambs. It was, once again, a marathon of a sale, selling a total of 638 lots in around 17 hours, with the last sheep going through the ring at 2.15am the following morning, giving rise to a quip from a well known Irish breeder that it was the first sale which he turned up at and seen it finish the following month!

Trade was always expected to be top notch after a season of record priced Mule gimmers up and down the country, with buyers looking to the strength and versatility of the Mule ewe to maintain the backbone of a strong British Sheep Industry.

Topping the days exciting lamb trade was Allan Wight from Midlock, who brought a cracking pen which were the talk of the day with many breeders running their eye over the strong, breedy lambs which were correct on their legs and showed outstanding conformation. They had a run of ten lambs, all by the £12,000 Tan House bought at Hawes last year, which levelled out to average £5760. Their unshown pen leader was out of a shearling by the noted Controversy and sold in a three way deal to J Herdman, Eldingham, Messrs Snaith, Clennell and M/s Sharp, Newbigging Walls for £19,000. A £14,000 bid for another lamb the same way bred, and also unshown, saw leading Mule producers and noted Leicester breeder James Porter, Riddings join forces with brothers, Andrew and Mark Brown, Asby Hall, who had a cracking trade with their Mule lambs this year averaging £116 for 550 gimmers sold. They liked his power and style and all round correctness. Chasing both tups was a syndicate from Scotland.

It wasn't all profit for the Midlock flock though as they did take home the pre-sale Champion, which came from the noted Hewgill flock, who collected their first ever championship at Hawes, despite all their success over the years, this particular prize had eluded them. And what a lamb it was, with great power and presence it was easy to see what attracted judges Robert Wallace and Timothy Wray to select him as their winner, he is by the Z14 Hewgill which has been producing the goods for the Lords a number of years now, and out of a ewe by the M8 Hewgill, another great crossing line. He was knocked down to Midlock for £9000. The Lords have sold Mule lambs up to £440 this year, and in total their 450 lambs have averaged well over £100, this consistency to produce outstanding gimmers over the last few years was reflected when their number one lamb in the pen, with the same breeding as the champion, sold for £10,500 to Lake District breeder, Colin Lowis.

A four hundred mile round trip starting at 2am paid off for Welsh breeder, Richard Thomas from Tan House farm, as he took 2 nd and 3 rd in the ram lamb class and also collected the Reserve champion ticket too. Both lambs were by the A3 Old Hemley, which goes back to the Controversy tup who's bloodlines are behind a lot of the top Mule lines at the moment, same as the tup Midlock are running, but the reserve champion is out of a ewe by X2 Tan House, whilst the 3 rd Prize winner is the same way bred as the Midlock tup, out of a ewe by N1 Tan House. The Tan House flock has been doing well in the Welsh Mule sales, where they collected the championship ticket at the Builth sale, with 12 of the lambs in the top twenty by the A3 Old Hemley. This success on the welsh Mules saw the reserve champion return to Wales in a £10,000 deal with David & Stephen Abberley from the Old Hemley flock, buying back in a bit of their own bloodlines. The 3 rd prize lamb sold to noted Hawes Mule breeder, Granville Fairburn, Marriforth, who themselves had a good trade, selling five lambs over £2000, for £9100.

Jack Lawson's Hundith flock has been doing well over recent years, with the Y1 Midlock, a son of Controversy putting some power into his already well noted bloodlines. Entertainment is never far away when Jack is in the ring and it was no different at this sale. It was two sons of the Y1 Midlock which gave Jacks pens the headlines, the first, the full brother to a tup Neil Marston, Highberries, is using successfully sold for £7000 to Geoff Taylor, Swarthburn, and the other out of a V33 Lunesdale sold to M/s Allinson, Sealhouses for £9200.

Other leading prices in the lamb section saw Neil Marston, Highberries peak at £6200 and average £3900 for six lambs sold, all by the Z4 Hundith.

In the shearling section averages were down slightly and saw a top of £7500 for Michael James of the Duhonw flock, Builth Wells, who sold a son of his R3 Duhonw E+, a previous male champion at the Royal welsh Show, to James Porter Riddings, who got his eye on him at the open day the James's last month.

PRIZES - AGED & SHEARLING RAMS
1st W A & A Booth, Feizor £4200 ( Lot 127), 2nd W C Porter & Son, Riddings £1700 ( Lot 10), 3rd Breck House Enterprises, Bransdale £6600 ( Lot 81)

AGED RAMS to £4200 Averaged £1001 (up £80 on 2009)

Leading Prices :W A & A Booth, £4200, £2200. J C & E Pedley, £1300. R & P E Hargreaves, £1300. G T Davies & Son, £1000. AV Caton, £1000, £500. WA Dinsdale & Son, £900. W C Porter & Son, £700. J C & N Throup , £620. R & R Gornall, £500.

SHEARLING RAMS to £7500 Averaged £1064 (down £75 on 2009).

Leading Prices : J E & SJ L James, £7500. Breck House Enterprises, £6600, £2600, £1050. W C Porter & Son, £6200, £2200, £1850 £1700, £1000. W A & A Booth, £5200, £2000. E Fairburn & Sons, £3400, £1500, £1050. W A Dinsdale & Son, £1900. A V Caton, £1900. C M & J Stott, £1700. J & D Stenton, £1500, £1200, £1100, £1050. A J Mason, £1500. J W & S E Drinkwater, £1500, £1300. J E Thorpe, £1450. Ellis Bros, £1450, £1000 x 2. J C & N Throup , £1420. H W & G White, £1400. A C Hutchinson, £1400. P Webster, £1300, £1150, £1050, £1000. J H Dewhurst, £1300. B D & A Horner, £1020. N White, £1000.

Leading Flock Averages, Aged and Shearling : W A & A Booth, £3400 for 4. WC Porter & Son, £1600 for 10. E Fairburn & Sons, £1342 for 6. P Webster, £1125 for 4. Ellis Bros, £1100 for 3. HW & G White, £1100 for 2. Breck House Enterprises, £950 for 6. A J Mason, £950 for 2. G T Davies & Son, £925 for 2. J C Throup, £923 for 3. J & D Stenton, £917 for 6.

RAM LAMBS to £19,000 Averaged £1358 (up £288 on 2009).
1st & OVERALL CHAMPION Messrs Lord, Low Dowgill £9000 (Lot 439).
2nd & RESERVE CHAMPION J Thomas & Son, Llandrindod Wells £10,000
(Lot 281). 3rd J Thomas & Son, Llandrindod Wells £9100 (Lot 280).

Leading Prices : J Wight & Sons, £19000, £14000, £5000, £4600, £4200, £3000, £2800, £2400. Messrs Lord, £10500, £9000, £6100, £3000, £2900, £2800, £2500 x 2, £2000. J Thomas & Son, £10000, £9100, £2800, £2200. J J & E Lawson, £9200, £7000, £4200, £3000, £2800 x 2, £2600, £2200, £2100. A J Mason, £7500, £3000. D J Abberley, £6800, £2400. N C Marston, £6200, £4600, £4500, £3600, £2600. W J & L A Barker, £5500, £3500. W C Porter & Son, £5200, £2200. K A Brown & Sons, £5200, £4200, £4000, £3200, £2500. £2000 x 3. A V Caton, £5000. W A & A Booth, £4800, £4500, £3700, £2600 x 2, £2200. H W & G White, £4100, £2000. W & D Lawson & Son, £3800. R D Archer & Son, £3200, £2800. R Walker , £2800. C T & J E Willoughby, £2800. W M Hutchinson & Son, £2800 x 2, £2400, £2200. E Fairburn , £2800, £2600, £2500, £2200, £2000. R A Busby & Son, £2800, £2200 x 3. JC & E Pedley , £2700, £2600, £2000. J E & S J L James, £2500, £2200 x 3. J Allison & Sons, £2200. J Nelson & Son, £2100. G P Taylor & Sons, £2000. J & D Stenton, £2000.

Leading Flock Averages : J Wight & Sons £5760 for 10, J Thomas & Son, £4014 for 7, N C Marston, £3900 for 6, Messrs Lord, £3357 for 14, W A & A Booth, £3142 for 7, J J & E Lawson, £3013 for 15, D J Abberley, £2740 for 5, A V Caton, £2600 for 5, A J Mason, £2450 for 6, K A Brown & Sons, £2433 for 12, HW & G White, £2000 for 4.

PRIZES - FEMALES
1st H W & G White, Horton in Ribblesdale £600 (Lot 717). 2nd H W & G White, Horton in Ribblesdale £500 (Lot 719). 3rd W A & A Booth, Feizor £950 (Lot 734).

EWES & GIMMER SHEARLINGS to £1600, averaged £563. (down £25 on 2009).
Leading Prices : WA & A Booth, £1600, £1300, £950, W J & L A Barker, £1000, W & D Lawson & Son, £950, £900, £720 C Wood, £760, £700, Ellis Bros, £650, H W & G White £600, W C Porter & Son, £600, £400, J C & N Throup , £420, £350, H Pickles, £360.
Leading Flock Averages W A & A Booth, £1082 for 4, W & D Lawson & Son, £856 for 3, C Wood, £730 for 2.

GIMMER LAMBS to £680 averaged £437 (up £67 on 2009).
Leading Prices: J J & E Lawson, £680, £540, £500, £480, J Nelson & Son, £510, £420, HW & G White, £500, WA & A Booth, £480, A J Mason, £400, £350, £300, Ellis Bros, £400.

Asby Hall - £5200