TWO fine pens of lowland lambs clinched a sparkling supreme championship and reserve championship double for the Fox farming brothers at Skipton Auction Mart’s annual Christmas primestock shows and sales on Sunday.

Last year’s supreme champion Martin Brown, of Dovecote Barn, Leyburn, was invited back to judge the lowland show classes this year and, together will hill lambs judge David Palmer, of Scarborough, they picked a tremendous trio of trimmed Beltex-crosses from Fox Farms in Withgill, near Clitheroe, for leading honours. Weighing in at 44kg, the title winners, the first prize Continental-cross trimmed 40kg or more class victors, sold for a sale-topping £340 each to Tim Hamlet for his retail butchers shop in Garstang, Preston.

Fox Farms is owned by brothers Robert, Peter and Edward Fox, and has been in the family for more than 60 years. They home-breed most of their sheep, with their flock primarily made up of Beltex and Mules. They also raise beef cattle.

As well as the supreme champions, the brothers also scooped reserve with their winners of the heavyweight untrimmed Continental-cross class, 46kg Beltex that sold for £150 per head, second top price, to York farmer and butcher Anthony Swales, who made multiple prize-winning acquisitions of behalf of his Knavesmire Butchers shop in Albermarle Road.

Peter Fox said: “We’ve had a few winners here before, but never a champion and reserve together. We thought we had some good lambs, but you can never be confident until they take the judge’s eye.”

David Palmer’s chosen hill lamb champions were a trio of 52kg Scotch Blackfaced lambs from Ken Flintoff, of Egton Bridge, near Whitby, which sold for a section-topping £115 per head to Skipton-based meat wholesaler Swaledale Foods, which sourced several pens.

From the same part of the world, Whitby’s Mike Allen was crowned reserve hill champion with his first prize 57kg Masham trio, which fell to the show judge for £110 each and were among several hill pens Mr Palmer took home.

Back with the Continental-crosses, in the 39kg or less untrimmed class, the first prize 38kg Beltex from Ellis Brothers, of Addingham Moorside, and the 36kg runners-up from Rob Lambert, of Wigglesworth, both fell to Anthony Swales at £140 and £120 respectively.

The same buyer also claimed the second prize trimmed 40kg or more lambs from Taylor Bros, of Tosside, at £130, further adding the second and third prize 39kg or less trimmed lambs from Rob Lambert again, and Scott and Laura Robinson, of Barnoldswick, both at £140.

Keelham Farm Shop also claimed three prize-winning pens for its shops in Skipton and Thornton – the third prize Continental-cross 45kg trimmed lambs from Richard and Mark Ireland, of Whalley, at £120, and the second and third prize 51kg and 48kg Suffolk pens from Anthony Thompson, of Salterforth, and Skipton’s Geoff and Margaret Lawn at £104 and £102 respectively.