BUYERS from all over the UK attended the annual show and sale of the Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Breeders' Association at Skipton last Friday.

No records were broken, but good prices were paid and only nine out of 115 lots were left unsold.

There was a strong demand for shearling ewes, which averaged 112gns, while ewe lambs averaged 97gns.

The highest price of the day was 450gns paid by a Wiltshire buyer for the third placed ewe lamb, bred and entered by G Verity of Carlton, near Leyburn.

The champion was the first placed ewe lamb of retired Leyburn vet, Mr Jack Watkinson, which realised 310gns.

Other notable prices included 360gns for a shearling ram bred and entered by J N & S M Prescott of Longhorsley, Morpeth, and 320gns for the winning ram lamb of Mrs Y T Mudd of Knaresborough.

Reserve champion was a shearling ram entered by J A & F Elliott, also from Knaresborough, which sold for 250gns.

Apart from Northern buyers, others were attracted from the Midlands, the South West, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Mr Frank Pedley, breed secretary, said the expansion and popularity of the breed at a time of general agricultural depression was due to its position as, perhaps, the leading dual purpose breed of its type as a crossing sire and wool provider/improver.

It also had the highest genetic resistance to scrapie, a quality that was likely to assume increased importance with the introduction of a national scrapie plan in Great Britain early next year.