Alex Welsh total clearance at Skipton South Devon showcase

While The South Devon Herd Book Society’s fourth annual show and sale at Skipton Auction Mart attracted a small, but select entry of 11 pedigree cattle, the undoubted highlight was the total clearance of a five-strong consignment of heifers from the Galtres herd of Ms Alex Welch, of Huby Grange, near York. (Wed, Nov 11).

After making a clean sweep of the prizes in the show class for 2013-born unbroken heifers, Ms Welch saw her trio, all by Welland Valley Warrior and all scanned in-calf to Hawkley SIS Javelin, each sell for 1,500gns.

Both the first prize winner, Galtres Warrior Suffragette 20, and the third prize Galtres Warrior Kay 63, joined the same buyer, Perthshire’s Hugh Jackson-Gamlen, of Littleton House, Rattray, near Blairgowrie.

Mr Jackson-Gamlen, who owns a pressure washer business, originally hails from Cornwall and has had a lifelong interest in South Devons. He shipped some over to Canada to farm there in 1969 and since returning to the UK has maintained a small herd north of the border

The runner-up, Galtres Warrior Daisy 15, fell to Ralph Pattison and his daughter Valerie, of Brompton, Northallerton.

To cap a good day, Ms Walsh, who was also responsible for the top price performer at last year’s Skipton breed show, stepped up with the first and second prize commercial heifers at the latest renewal.

Both were again by Welland Valley Warrior and also in-calf to Javelin. They each made 1,100gns, the red rosette winner joining LJ Riley, of Longwood, Huddersfield, and the runner-up AT Threlkeld, of Satterthwaite, Ulverston.

Sir John Bell, of Arncliffe Farms at Ingleby Cross, Northallerton, was responsible for the first and second prize winners in the maiden heifer show class, both home-breds by Arncliffe Galileo. The victor sold for 1,200gns to A&C Farms, of Langham in Leicestershire, while the runner-up became a second Threlkeld acquisition at 1,050gns.

As in 2014, principal honours again fell to husband and wife Paul and Pam Harrison, of the Brafferton herd in Tollerton, York, long-standing South Devon breeders who secured a back-to-back championship and reserve championship double. They were also the 2013 Skipton champions.

Their 2015 title winner was the January, 2013, heifer Brafferton Dinah 11, who had been shown all summer, with a first in class at this year’s Great Yorkshire show among her tally of prize wins. She is by the Norfolk-bred Woodbastwick Tobias, acquired three years ago and since sold on, out of Dinah 7, and herself due to calve in January to Brafferton Warrior.

Reserve champion was the first prize bull, a January, 2014, son of Brafferton Winston 1, junior champion at last year’s Great Yorkshire Show and native breed champion at Lincoln. He, too, was out of Dinah 7. Both frontrunners returned home.

Roxburgshire breeder Mrs Kay Darnbrook, who runs the Cleughside pedigree herd in Bailey, Newcastleton, presented the second and third prize January, 2013-born heifers, both by Portman Burtley Charlemagne. These, too, were unsold.

South Devon heifers averaged £1,417 and commercial heifers £1,260. Show judge was Lincolnshire’s Malcolm Broome, of Thorpe Langton, Market Harborough. The fixture was again staged alongside the sixth annual show and sale of pedigree beef breeding cattle on behalf of the North of England Beef Shorthorn Club.

Auctioneer: CCM Auctions