North West Progeny Show – Penrith Show – Crossing Type & Mules

Following hard on the heels of the Great Yorkshire Show was the Penrith progeny show…. which over the past few years has meant rain….and plenty of it at times. This year however was different, and the sun shone happily down on all!

It was good to have the classes back after missing a year and there was a great show of sheep for the judges to cast their eyes over in both sections, with plenty of ringside watchers too, it’s obvious that the enthusiasm for the sheep is undiminished, and the quality showed as both types were shortlisted in the strong interbreed line up.

There was a very strong competition in the Crossing lines, with sheep from Scotland and Northumberland dominating the tickets. John Stott was in charge of selecting the winners and he did a great job in the unrelenting sunshine.

Cream of the crop was a stunning gimmer shearling from Jimmy Bell and Rachel Buckle of the Cottage flock, who brought a strong team down from Lanark. The champion, out of a ewe they bought as a hogg off Euan Rees, was making its showring debut. Her natural twin was the reserve Champion at Hawes earlier this year, selling for £5000. Cottage had a great set of gimmers taking three of the top four places in the class. These 3, by the £16,000 T2 Drummuck went on to also take the Progeny Championship too. They also took the first prize in the Ewe progeny class, these were sired by Holmview Riverdance and 2^nd in the gimmer lamb progeny with lambs by the P24 Riddings.

Reserve Champion went to Northumberland breeders Andy & Caroline with a great tup lamb by the Midlock Magic. This bruiser of a lamb is out of the record-breaking Carry House ewe they bought for £15,000 at the dispersal sale. He has a full brother doing well at Barley and Honeymoor and will be heading to Hawes later this year, so will be worth keeping an eye out for.

Champion and Reserve Champion in the local class went to Neil & Mary Marston, Highberries, who enjoyed a good show, winning the aged tup class with the homebred Highberries T18, which was the sire to the Champion mule progeny group and the tup shearling classes with Barnshangan V1, a tup bought privately last autumn, who sired the winning group of 3 tup lambs in the progeny class too.

In the progney class the Riddings gimmer lambs took the Reserve Champion tickets. These lambs were by V1 Steel, the £10,000 champion out of Hawes last year.