CCM Skipton Young Handlers

Thursday 17th August 2023

At the age of just ten years, young Charlie Leach from Calderdale is fast becoming an old hand in the livestock show arena with his championship-winning prime lambs, standing supreme champion for the second time at Skipton Auction Mart’s annual young handlers’ showcase on Monday, 14 August.

For Charlie, whose proud parents Adrian and Kathryn Leach farm at Owlers Farm, Hebden Bridge, was not only repeating his 2021 young handlers title win at Skipton – that came in the junior show class – but also following up on his young handlers championship success, again for the second year running, at the same venue’s high profile annual Christmas primestock show day last November.

The latest show victor for the Old Town Primary School pupil, this time on his debut in the intermediate class, was an April-born pure Beltex gimmer lamb by one of his parents’ tups out of Charlie’s own home-bred ewe. Tapped out first  as 1^st prize winner in the 10-16yrs show class, then overall supreme champion by Embsay show judge Annabel Mason, the 41kg frontrunner went on to sell for £150 to ringside regular Andrew Atkinson, Felliscliffe.

The reserve championship was awarded to the 1^st prize winner in the Under 10s show class, Raff Middleton, nine-year-old son of Beamsley dairy farmers Alan and Emily Middleton. His home-bred 58kg Beltex cross Texel wether lamb sold for joint top price in show of £200, again fell to Mr Atkinson.

After finishing runner-up in the intermediates class the previous two years, Calderdale’s Chrissie Lund, now 17, stepped up to compete in the 17-26yrs senior class for the first time, duly winning it with a home-bred 39kg Beltex cross gimmer lamb sold for £135.

Chrissie now works full-time on the family farm in Walshaw run by her parents Richard and Emma, and grandparents Brian and Linda Lund – they, too, are familiar faces at Skipton – and she is currently undertaking an agricultural apprenticeship course at Craven College’s auction mart campus.

Report and images: Moule Media, Skipton