Great Yorkshire Show

Great Yorkshire Show 2025.

The Yorkshire Show of 2025 will live long in the memory…..especially for the heat and intense sunshine which was so strong it had people darting to and from among the shadows to try and keep cool! The Bluefaced Leicesters were judged on the second morning which was the best time to be out as the cloud cover in the early morning kept the temperatures down and wasn’t too bad an experience for those showing their sheep. Even through there were no Scottish exhibitors down, there were exhibitors from as far away as Suffolk, battling against more established breeders, and going on to make their mark at the show.

The man in the middle was Andy Hunter from the noted Steel flock, based up in Northumberland, and he certainly had his work cut out, casting his eye over the sheep forward, but he found his champion in the last class of the day, the gimmer lambs, when Chris Pye from the Emmetts flock brought out a sweet, stylish lamb which caught the eye straight away. She is by the £40,000 P1 Midlock Commander, which has done so well for the flocks who bought him, leaving a great stamp of sheep and also getting the mules too, with 3 of the 4 mules that they were showing by the Midlock. She is out of a Steel sheep that they bought privately as a gimmer hogg, which they showed once last year, but she walked away with the interbreed title, so there is plenty of quality in her.

Following the gimmer lamb was the gimmer shearling from the Stenton family. This was bred by the Riddings family and by the N2 Skeughdale, which has been doing the business for the Porters over the past few years. They had a good show too, taking the first prize in the aged ewe class with a Linkshead sired ewe and going on to take first prize in the pairs and group of three too, as well as picking up blue tickets in the aged tup and tup lamb classes also.

Making the trip all the way from Suffolk was Sarah Tween from the Onehouse flock for her second time of showing in the Leicester classes at the Yorkshire. She established her 25 strong flock in 2022, initially purchasing some females from the Classy Lasses sale at Carlisle, and was determined to step up from last year and she sure did, taking the male championship with an aged tup S13 Shitlington, a son of P56 Dawyck and out of a ewe by the M25 Cottage. She bought him as a lamb in Hawes in 2023 and he has been shown successfully already this summer, taking the Reserve Male Champion in the any other native breed section at the Norfolk show a fortnight before. She also went on to win the tup lamb class, which went on to take the reserve male champion place too. This was by their second placed T7 Onehouse shearling, which was out of a Dawyck gimmer they bought out of J36, Crooklands, rounding off a great trip North for them.

Kevin Wilson, Hewness flock, took the tup shearling class with a stonking tup.