SKIPTON Auction Mart’s bank holiday show and sale of ewes with lambs at foot produced a notable hat-trick in the hill lamb section for John Bland, who landed the Swaledale ewe and single lamb show class for the third year in succession.

Mr Bland, of Crowden, again took the red rosette home with his home-bred ewe and Mule lamb, which sold for £200 to Mike Allen, of Staithes.

Represented with nine sheep and ten lambs, Mr Bland also saw his broken mouth Swaledale ewes with twin Mule lambs sell to a top of £220 per outfit to Robert Tarbatt of Darwen.

Jonathan Townley, of Clapham, clinched first place in the lowland show class with his correct Beltex-cross-Texel ewe with single Beltex lamb at foot. The duo sold away at £200 to Barnoldswick’s Geoff Carr.

Mr Townley also progressed to achieve the day’s leading price of £225 per outfit for his correct Texel-cross ewes with twin lambs. These joined Ian Bell in Carleton.

Richard Stockdale, of Burnsall, won the pen of hoggs with lambs at foot show class with his five Texel-cross, all with single Charollais-cross-Beltex lambs. They sold at £185 per outfit to Frankland Farms in Rathmell, though Mr Stockdale’s run peaked at £190 for another outfit claimed by the Bowker family in Earby.

The increased bank holiday turnout of 563 breeding sheep included 224 ewes with 327 lambs at foot, which sold to a packed ringside of customers. Good young sheep met a sharp trade and were dearer on the week, while, with grass more plentiful, older sheep maintained recent good prices.

The same day’s turnout of 1,518 prime sheep included 760 spring lambs, which met a nice trade generally, with smart lambs easily achieving the previous week’s rates, though commercial lambs were cheaper on the week by around 5p-10p/kg. The overall selling average was £82.51 per head, or 203.2 p/kg.

Robert Towers, of Farleton, was again on the mark when producing a by-weight top of 280p/kg with his Texels, while Dave Grassam, of Wetherby, had the top price per head of £117, again with Texels.

Also penned for sale were over 400 prime and light hoggs, which were a shade dearer on the week when averaging £69.61, or 159.2p/kg overall.

Messrs Atkinson, of Felliscliffe, produced a solid run of 150 Continental hoggs and also offered two hoggs for sale in aid of Sue Ryder Manorlands in Oxenhope, which were purchased at £115, or 273.8p/kg, by M Alam, on behalf of Lancashire Direct Halal Meat in Blackburn.

Mature hoggs, 59 in total, sold to an overall average of £67.29 per head or 135.9p/kg, while an additional 292 cull ewes and cast rams saw the former average £54.54 per head. Rams averaged £60.50 each.