A SHEEP breed which once almost decreased to the point of extinction is enjoying its largest membership since the 1920s.

The Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Breeders' Association now has more than 220 members.

In 1920 few members lived outside North Yorkshire, Northern Lancashire and Westmoreland.

The Wensleydale ram was the undisputed sire of the Masham, the most popular half-bred ewe in Northern England and much of the Borders region of Scotland, but during the next 50 years numbers dwindled to virtually none, largely because of competition from the developing Teeswater.

The trend began in the show ring, with judges tending to prefer the attractive, clear-cut black and white facial markings of the Teeswater Mashams to the facial markings of the Wensleydale Mashams, which are similar to those of the Mule.

That trend gradually spread to the commercial market.

But the Wensleydale has made a remarkable recovery from its low point in the 60s and is close to "promotion" to the minority breeds list.

It is now said to be unsurpassed in its dual purpose attributes of crossing sire and the provider/improver of the highest quality lustre wool.

Its exceptionally high genetic resistance to scrapie is also assuming increasing importance.

Membership of the breed society now stretches from Caithness, where the most recent member uses Wensleydale rams on 500 Scottish Blackface and cross-bred ewes, to Northern Ireland where a breeder in County Down has a pedigree flock of 138 ewes.

There are also members in virtually every county in England with particular interest in the South-West and Wales.

However, North Yorkshire remains the focal point of the breed, reflected in almost 100 entries at the Great Yorkshire Show each year, where there have been Wensleydale classes since 1876.