Charollais takes Great Yorkshire sheep title

Sheep numbers at this week’s Great Yorkshire Show may have been affected by bluetongue, but with more than 1000 sheep penned it will undoubtedly be the largest show of sheep in England this year.

And with classes of 20 or more the Charollais breed was one of the best represented at Harrogate and it was their female champion, an aged ewe from Geoff Watson and Carol Grain, Kettering, Northamptonshire, which took the overall championship. The ewe, Solwood Gracious Lady, had earlier in the day taken the terminal sire breeds female championship.

By Castlelow Freelander and out of a ewe bred by David Reynolds, Telford, Gracious Lady had stood female champion and reserve breed champion in the Charollais, but due to the judging format at Great Yorkshire had come through to the interbreed to overturn the previous day’s result. She is one of 60 Charollais ewes run by the couple alongside their flock of Oxford Downs.

Standing reserve to the Charollais was Roger Field with his Wensleydale shearling ewe from his flock of eight Wensleydales at Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. This one, shown in full wool and due to be clipped  on Friday, is by RMLegram Benz out of a homebred ewe.

The ewe was on her first and only outing this year and Mr Field said in recent months the Wensleydale fleece had seen rapidly rising popularity from fashion designers.