Southdowns were once again at the forefront of the prizewinners at many of the major winter fairs in late 2014, with Southdown sired lambs taking top tickets at the English Winter Fair, Stafford, The Royal Welsh Winter Fair, Builth Wells, The East of England Smithfield Festival, Peterborough, and the South East Winter Primestock Fayre, Ardingly.
At the English Winter Fair, Stafford, a pair of purebred Southdown lambs from J C Dixon, Leicestershire, took the red rossette in the AOB Native sired lamb class before going on to be tapped out as the best Native purebred lambs by judge Rob Rattray. Robert Cox, Loughborough, also fared well, taking both first and second place with his Southdown carcasses.
Then at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair Katherine Price and Lyndsey Parry had an excellent show with their pair of trimmed Southdown lambs, taking the Lowland purebred championship.
Messrs Wakeham-Dawson and Harmer stood first in the untrimmed class of Southdowns, with the Humphrey family faring well in the Butchers weight section too.
In the carcass classes the Humphreys collected a red rosette with their pair of Southdown cross carcasses, with the Wakeham-Dawson and Harmer family also winning with their single carcass.
The East of England Smithfield Festival saw David and Linda Wadland’s pair of Southdown cross lambs win the overall native lamb championship after the couple picked up the red tickets for both the trimmed and untrimmed Southdown classes.
In the carcasses Messrs Wakeham-Dawson and Harmer were first in the native class with their Southdown cross, while the same exhibitors also picked up the prize for the best purebred native lambs.
November’s South East Winter Primestock Fayre at Ardingly saw the Wakeham-Dawson and Harmer team to the fore again, collecting the native lamb championship with their Southdown cross lambs as well as winning the show’s overall carcass championship with a Southdown cross.
