Joe, who farms with his family at Berwick Intake Farm, Draughton, stood champion with a lamb by N6 Smearsett, a Bluefaced Leicester tup bred in North Craven by the Booth family and himself a son of L11 Chelker from the Throups’ own pedigree flock, which set a new centre record breed price of 4,000gns (£4,200) at Skipton’s annual Bluefaced Leicester highlight in 2019 when purchased by the self-same Booths, father and son, David and Robin, of Old Hall Cottage, Feizor.

Furthermore, the Swaledale dam of the charity show victor was among a first prize pen of ten acquired from Horton- in-Ribblesdale’s Stuart and Debbie Robinson at Skipton’s annual fixture for females of the breed last autumn.

When appearing in the sale ring, the title winner, recipient of the PFS Shield and picked out by co-judges Thomas Binns, of Downham, and John Stott, from Chipping, was sold five times in total after being bought, then re-offered by ever-generous bidders at the ringside.

it first sold to John and Pauline Turner, of Draughton – they traditionally open the bidding at the annual charity highlight – then, in turn, to NFU Mutual’s Skipton office, Simon Spensley, of Gargrave, Kettlesing’s Andrew Atkinson and, finally, Greg Foster, of Hesketh Bank, Preston.

The single lamb netted £840 in total, a magnificent sum bearing in mind that the same day’s overall selling average for Mules was £81.74, with many others among the 32 donated by farmers across the region, both in the show and the main sale, hitting £100-plus.

Additional sale items, including cakes, produce and shepherd’s crooks donated by members of the local farming community, also went under the hammer, with overall proceeds totalling a resounding £4,863, almost £1,000 more than in 2020, further boosted by personal donations of around £300. Over the years, the seasonal showcase has raised some £55,000 for Sue Ryder Manorlands.

Back in show, predominantly featuring North of England Mules, runners-up for the second consecutive year were Ellis Bros, of Addingham Moorside, also with a home-bred Mule wether lamb by N1 Ilkley Moor, a tup with both Booth and Neil Marston bloodlines and, going back even further, to Cumbrian breeder William Wallace’s Gapshield flock. It sold twice and made £270.

The Dunsop Bridge Walkers finished third, again with a Mule wether lamb by a home-bred Bluefaced Leicester tup, which made £130, with Chris Ryder, from Blubberhouses, show champion the previous two years, once more among the prizes in fourth place, his Mule making £135, as did a Texel-cross from Haworth’s AP Percival. A run of four donated lambs made £125 each, along with a run of 15 at £115 per head, plus three at £100.

Adam Brunskill, Manorlands’ Craven area fundraiser, a former member of Worth Valley Young Farmers Club whose grandparents were farmers, said: “Addingham Sheep Breeders and Craven Cattle Market have once again done us proud raising a fantastic amount for Manorlands hospice. This will help us to continue to be there for local families when it matters and provide our compassionate palliative care and bereavement support in our hospice and in the community. We are extremely grateful for the amazing and continued support of the farming community."

The charity fundraiser, co-sponsored by Top Tags Animal ID, Readymix Huddersfield and Wilson Contractors, formed part of Skipton’s fortnightly Wednesday store lambs sale, the last of the year, when 3,023 head, a larger turnout on the fortnight, though of variable quality, sold to an overall average of £87.23. In the mix, top of the shop on price was a £129 per head Suffolk pen from Martin Brown, of Lofthouse in Nidderdale, closely followed at £128 each by a Beltex pen from Frankland Farms in Rathmell.

The opening New Year store lambs fixture is on Wednesday, January 12, preceded a week earlier on the 5th by the fortnightly ‘Great New Year’ cattle opener, which as always looks set to get the trading year off to a flying start.