THE Hebridean Sheep Society enjoyed a highly successful national breed show at Leyburn auction mart on Sunday.

Sixty breeders from as far afield as Holland and the Western Isles attended the weekend symposium and show and were joined by a similar number of local farmers and interested visitors.

There was a record number of entries - more than 80 - for the seven classes, with 58 sheep forward, plus followers. The largest single class was that for shearling gimmers, with an entry of 23.

Jane Wilson from Hexham had the unenviable task of judging as a consequence of being last year's winner. Afterwards she said she had found her job extremely difficult, owing to the excellent overall standard, although the eventual champion stood out, even in a ring packed with 22 other entries in her class.

Enid and Jeff Moore, from Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, won four classes in all and their 5-shear homebred ewe, Cillimore Holly, which was reserve breed champion at The Great Yorkshire Show, featured in three of them.

As a result they set off for home, car loaded to the gunwales with Black Sheep ale and bags of sheep feed, but missed out on the championship.

The breed champion was a fine gimmer shearling, Brightside Ethie, owned and bred by Kath and Chas Heeley who farm at Westhoughton in Lancashire. They had entered the show in the hope of bad weather and it was only the heavy rain over Saturday night that curtailed their combining for the day and enabled them to attend.

Reserve was a four-horned Knox ram, owned and bred by Eric Medway from Harrogate.

Four horned animals form less than 10pc of the national flock and it was the first time one had achieved this success. Mr Medway has kept Hebrideans for 25 years and is a founder member and former secretary of the society.

The trophies and prizes were presented by Paul Theakston, from breed sponsors Black Sheep Brewery. Other prizes were given by I'Anson, quality feeds of Masham, Carrs Billington Hawes branch, and Philip Holden, agricultural merchants, from Leyburn.

The society thanked Stephen Walker of Leyburn mart for an excellent venue for the event.