9:30am Saturday 21st November 2009
Craven Cattle Marts is to stage the inaugural “Great Northern Pork Pie Fest”.
The first-ever competition, which will run alongside the annual Christmas prime stock shows and sales at Skipton Auction Mart next Sunday, November 29, is open to retail butchers, farm shops and bakers who make pies on their own premises.
Known as The Craven Lingfield Show, it is the region’s premier event for butchers looking to source quality, locally-reared prime beef and lamb for Christmas.
The Great Northern Pork Pie Fest is being staged for the first time to create additional interest and involvement among the region’s meat men and women.
There are two classes – traditional pork pie and Christmas stand pie – with cash prizes, rosettes and certificates for first, second and third in each. An overall supreme champion will receive £50 and the reserve champion £20. There are also special £30 prizes for the best pork pie from both Yorkshire and Lancashire, as organisers seek to foster cross-border competition and friendly Roses rivalry!
The entries – the requirement is four pork pies and two stand pies – will be judged by a panel of experts, with the supreme championship adjudicated by two master judges.
Organisers also hope to secure the services of a celebrity judge for the competition, which is sponsored by Skipton-based Moule Media and local farmer John Turner, of Draughton.
All entrants are being asked to bring along an additional four pork pies and one stand pie for a charity sale, with all proceeds going to Manorlands, the Sue Ryder hospice at Oxenhope.
There is a £5 per class entry fee and each contestant will receive a free Christmas supper. Entries can be telephoned to the Skipton Auction Mart office on 01756 792375, text 07747 780481, or email jeremy@ccmauctions.com
Skipton’s annual Christmas prime stock shows were staged on a Sunday for the first time last year, as the mart sought to replicate the atmosphere and sense of occasion of the former Smithfield Christmas Fatstock Show in London.
It was a tremendous success, with more than 1,000 people attending, and the organisers are keen to build on the appeal and impact of the fixture at this year’s renewal. There is again a 10-strong line-up of butchers’ classes in both the cattle and sheep sections.
Skipton Auction Mart’s general manager Jeremy Eaton said: “As well as catering for our farmer customers from a wide area, the 2008 event proved an excellent showcase to more effectively promote retail interest in prime stock among customers from the regional meat trade, also allowing them to meet farmers in person.
“There was lively trading last year, with exceptional prices achieved for the individual cattle and lamb champions and the main prize winners, as butcher-buyers secured the pick of the region’s prime beef and lamb for their customers’ Christmas tables. Both vendors and purchasers benefit from the publicity the show generates, with butcher-buyers in particular reporting improved Christmas trading.”
On the day, Craven Cattle Marts will announce its Stock Person of the Year.
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