WHALLEY father and son, Richard and Mark Ireland, picked up another prime lambs championship at Skipton Auction Mart’s October show with 43kg Beltex sold for top gross price of £158 per head (367p/kg) to Knavesmire Butchers in York, which also secured the third prize 44kg Beltex pen from September champion George Sunderland, of Cragg Vale, Hebden Bridge, at £156 (354p/kg). Addingham Moorside mart regulars, Ellis Bros, consigned the runners-up, 42kg Beltex which topped the per kilo prices at 369p (£155).

Chris and Christine Ryder, from Blubberhouses, won the North of England Mule show class with 50kg lambs claimed for £112 per head by regular Felliscliffe buyer Andrew Atkinson, who also paid £110 each for the first prize Suffolk-cross pen from Beamsley’s Alan and Emily Middleton. The red rosette-winners in the horned show class, 40kg Dalesbred from K Lister & Son in Kettlewell made £88. Hartwith’s Nick Dalby judged the show classes.

In the prime cattle show, there was no change in the pecking order from the previous month, North Craven father and son, Francis and Andrew Smith, of Masongill, again standing champion with an exceptional 13-month-old 540kg Limousin-cross bullock, which made top price of 337.5p/kg, or £1,823, when selling to judge Anthony Swale, again for Knavesmire Butchers, who also went to 331.5p/kg, or £1,943, to claim a prize-winning 586kg Blue-cross heifer, again from the Smiths.

The Hutton-based Critchleys finished reserve champions for the second successive month with a 564kg British Blue-cross heifer sold for 335.5p/kg, or £1,892, to Ralph Pearson Wholesale Butchers in Bradford.

A solid turnout of 24 under 30-month clean cattle averaged a creditable 302p/kg, also among them a 644kg 31-month-old Limousin heifer at 311.5p/kg from TK Drinkall in Newton-le-Willows, while a brace of high quality heavy young bulls, Blue and Blonde-crosses, from Paul Baines at Gisburn sold to 319.5p/kg, averaging 318p/kg.