AFTER standing reserve supreme champion the previous three consecutive years, local breeder John Stephenson, of Bordley Green Farm, Bordley, finally got his hands on the title he had long sought when crowned overall supreme champion for the first time at Skipton Auction Mart’s 11th annual Christmas prime cattle show and sale.

Accompanied by son, also John, he secured the coveted title with his first prize British Blue-cross heifer and female champion, a 14-month-old home-bred by Tattan Harlequin, shown to good effect all summer, winning at several local shows, including the Gargrave championship, as well as standing third in class at the Great Yorkshire,

The sire, acquired seven years ago from North Wales, had also been responsible for past Skipton reserve supreme champions and has bred some first-rate show stock, along with quality home-bred bulls.

With many independent retail butchers again present at the ringside and keen to source top quality beef for their customers’ Christmas tables, the 580kg victor was the subject of spirited bidding, before falling for top price in show of £2,726, or £4.70 per kilo, to Anthony Kitson, of Kitson & Sons Butchers, which has four retail shops in North Yorkshire and Durham.

Mr Kitson took home eight cattle in total, all prize winners. As well as the supreme champion, he also went to £2,090, or £3.80 per kilo, to acquire another Stephenson red rosette winner, a lighter by weight 550kg Blue-cross by the same sire.

A third Stephenson-bred purchase was a second prize 585kg Limousin-cross steer at £1,813, or £3.10p/kg, along with a fourth from the Stephenson camp, another second prize 595kg Limousin-cross steer at £1,666, or 280p/kg.

Also forming part of the Kitson shopping list were two further first and second prize Limousin-cross heifers. The red rosette winner, which also won a special prize for the best home-bred beast, was a 590kg Limousin-crss from the Baines family in Trawden, which sold at £1,770, or £3 per kilo, while the 610kg runner-up from Stephen and Nicola Jowett, of Queensbury, also nominated the best beast purchased from CCM Skipton at Craven Champions Day in February this year, made £1,555, or 255p/kg.

In addition, Mr Kitson bought the runner-up in the young handlers show class, a 640kg Limousin-cross from Lee Hopwood, of Oldham, at £1,792, or 280p/kg, along with another red rosette winner, the first prize native-bred Aberdeen-Angus heifer from Geoff and Margaret Lawn, of Skipton, which weighed in at 515kg and made £1,365, or 265p/kg.

Anthony Kitson also purchased the supreme champions at both the English and Scottish Winter Fairs this month and was due to travel to the Royal Welsh Winter Fair two days after the CCM showcase in a bid to buy the supreme champion there. It was a feat he achieved two years ago when securing all three victors at the UK’s three Winter Fair highlights.

Mr Kitson described his Skipton supreme champion as “a very good heifer – comparable to anything I’ve seen at the English and Scottish Winter Fairs.”

From an entry of six home-bred cattle, all prize winners, John Stephenson saw his other red rosette winner, a 505kg Parthenais-cross steer, sell for £1,616, or 320p/kg, to George Cropper Jnr for his Sandersons Butchers shop in Baxenden – he also purchased the same day’s supreme champion prime lambs.

Another regular butcher buyer, Anthony Swales, claimed a further John Stephenson’s third prize winner, this time in the young handlers show class, a 640kg Limousin-cross at £1,536, or 240p/kg, for his Knavesmire Butchers Shop in Albermarle Road, York.

The 2015 Christmas prime cattle supreme champions, Clare Cropper and John Mellin, who farm in Long Preston, again won multiple accolades, claiming both the male and female reserve championships, with the latter progressing to become overall reserve supreme champion.

The Spring-bought British Blue-cross, known at home as “Apache,” and second in class only to Mr Stephenson’s supreme, had also been shown with great success this summer, standing champion at Malham, the Royal Lancashire and Bury Shows. It weighed in at 590kg and went on to sell for £2,124, or 360p/kg, to D&A Gregory Butchers in Bacup.

The Cropper and Mellin male reserve champion was a class-winning Welsh-bred 585kg Blue-cross bullock sold for £1,872, or 320p/kg, to co-judge Alan Beecroft, of Countrystyle Meats Farm Shop and Restaurant in Lancaster, another regular buyer at Skipton.

A further red rosette came the way of Clare Cropper in the young handlers show class with a 640kg Limousin-cross heifer that had claimed six championships this summer, including one at the Royal Lancs Show, plus a class win at the Great Yorkshire. It sold for £2,240, or 350p/kg, to JC&J White, of Middleton-in-Teesdale.

From the same home came yet another red rosette winner, a 495kg Limousin-cross steer, reserve champion at Great Harwood Show this year, which became a further acquisition by Sandersons Butchers at £1,559, or 315p/kg.

Completing the Cropper and Mellin tally were a second prize a 515kg Blue-cross heifer, sold for £1,854, or 360p/kg, again to Countrystyle Meats, a third prize 590kg Blue-cross heifer claimed by Hamlets Butchers in Garstang for £1,593, or 270p/kg, and a third prize 550kg Limousin-cross steer that became another Knavesmire Butchers’ buy at £1,650, or 300p/kg.

From Hutton, near Preston, the Critchley beef farming family, who have clinched multiple monthly prime cattle championships at Skipton this year, were also prominent among the festive prizes, including a clean sweep in one of the Limousin-cross heifer show classes.

Both the 470kg victor and the 465kg runner-up again fell to Countrystyle Meats, the former at £1,410, or 300p/kg, the latter at £1,441, or 310p/kg. The 410kg third prize winner sold for £1,312, or 320p/kg, to K&J Green Butchers, of Preston.

The Critchleys also finished second and third in another show class for Limousin-cross steers, their 535kg runner-up selling at £1,658, or 310p/kg, again to Countrystyle, who bought eight cattle in total, the other at 475kg for £1,235, or 260p/kg, to JR&A Blades, who run the Market Pantry in Hawes. The family also stepped up with a third prize 530kg Blue-cross heifer, which became a further Sandersons’ Butchers buy at £1,855, or 350p/kg.

For good measure, the Critchleys were also responsible for the overall champion in the un-haltered show classes, a Spring-bought 540kg Blue-cross heifer that received the Dick Binns Trophy, before selling for a section top of £2,160, or £4 per kilo, again to K&J Green Butchers.

Back in the haltered show classes, the Lawn family supplemented the native class win when also sending out the runner-up, a 570kg Aberdeen-Angus heifer that became a further JR&A Blades buy at £1,482, or 260p/kg.

Janet Sheard, from Almondbury, Huddersfield, had a third prize success in one of the Limousin heifer show classes with a 565kg entry sold for £1,610, or 285p/kg, to Hammond Butchers in Bainbridge.

Jonathan Shorrock, of Cliviger, Burnley, was another second prize winner with a 485kg Blue-cross heifer sold to Felliscliffe’s Andrew Atkinson for £1,309, or 270p/kg, with the same buyer also digging deeper when paying £1,586, or 260p/kg, for a third prize steer from S Fawcett and H Challis, of Middlesmoor.

The Queensbury-based Jowett family, of Lower West Scholes Farm, were also responsible for the male champion, a red rosette-winning Limousin-cross steer that was the only one of the prize winners to return home on the day,

Reserve champion in the un-haltered section was the first prize 578kg Limousin-cross heifer from Threshfield brothers, Charles and Richard Kitching, which made £1,449, or 252p/kg, when claimed by another regular buyer, Keelham Farm Shop, for its Skipton and Thornton shops.

Other butcher buyers of prize-winning un-haltered cattle included Countrystyle Meats, Skipton-based Stanforths, John Kearns in Shipley and Ellisons of Cullingworth, with Hargreaves Farms in Walton-le-Dale also among the purchasers.

The 57 under 30-month show cattle on parade sold to a solid overall average of £1,541.49, or 280.2p/kg.

Also co-judging was Scottish pedigree cattle breeder Stephen Illingworth, from Eaglesfield, Lockerbie. The big Lingfields Christmas show day again attracted multiple sponsors, the mainline supporter being Skipton NFU.