THE two-day Masham Sheep Fair on Saturday and Sunday was the eighteenth in its present form and blessed by wonderful weather.

Saturday's record-breaking crowds enjoyed superb classes of sheep and all kinds of other displays around the town. The event raises money for local charities and last year raised £6,000 - organisers are hoping that they can increase this figure this year.

The chosen charity this year is Chopsticks, a charity for the disabled, based in Northallerton and funds are required to replace a vital piece of machinery for chopping wood.

The fair has grown in popularity for visitors and showing competitors, and the standard of sheep shown was reflected by the high calibre of the judges who travelled from within the UK.

Last year, there were no sheep on the Sunday because of the difficulty of complying with the regulations laid down by Defra. All the hurdles had to be removed for thorough cleaning at the end of the first day and then put up once again.

This year, the operation was made possible with the help of Jameson's feed merchants and Dave Smith agricultural contractor, who both used and loaned their machinery for the cleaning up operation. This had all been done so successfully that the organisers hope to be able to include rare breeds classes again next year.

The Sheep Show, based in Norfolk, and sponsored by The Black Sheep Brewery, proved to be a wonderful attraction.

Presented by Richard Savory, a New Zealander, it has featured at about 50 shows this year. He had seven different breeds of sheep on display and his show was informative and entertaining even to a crowd containing so many knowledgeable farmers.

He demonstrated shearing a sheep and then explained the uses, characteristics and values of the wool and the marketing problems. He also said he was constantly being asked if he had good clean fleeces to sell.

More than 1,000 people enjoyed the displays, crafts and stalls on show at the town hall. They included Suzanne Stirk's stand with her cheeses made locally in Newton le Willows, several of which are made from ewes' milk. She launched her King Richard Blue cheese at Leyburn Festival of Food and Drink, and was delighted at the weekend to sell more cheese in one day than she had ever done, and also had the best sales of her new cheese so far. She has been invited to an evening promotion for private clients at Fortnum and Mason in London.

Masham's Border Caf ran a barbecue as usual, and they too had a record day selling more than 640 rolls filled with sausages, beefburgers, beef or lamb steaks. By 3pm on Saturday they had out.

The Addington Fund, which provided so much help to stricken farmers during the foot-and-mouth epidemic, also had a representative in Masham. The fund can now, from time to time, buy properties to rent to those in the farming community who are suffering hardship. There is one such house in Masham.

For the second year, Ripon and District Amateur Radio Society, call sign GB2MSF, was transmitting news around the world, making Masham Sheep Fair international. It had been in communication with many fellow ham enthusiasts from as far afield as Russia, Holland and North Carolina in the US over the two days, spreading the word about the success of the 2003 event.

See Spectator's Notes, page 2