A sheep breed that is not only renowned for it's high lustre fleece but is among the rarest in the UK was awarded the coveted Wool on the Hoof supreme championship at the Great Yorkshire Show.
The award went to the winner of the Lustre Longwool section - an outstanding Teeswater shearling tup from retired Lancashire farmer Darrell Pilkington who runs a flock of just 10 ewes of this endangered breed at Rimington, near Clitheroe.
The ram's fleece was described by judge Malcolm Hudson - a retired wool buyer from Shipley, West Yorkshire - as " a beautiful fleece that was clean and of the highest quality and a great credit to the Teeswater breed."
Winner Darrell Pilkington, who has won the Teeswater breed championship three times at the Great Yorkshire Show, said selecting breeding stock with good fleece quality was still an important consideration - bit the sheep itself had to be good too.
"The breed is renowned for its high lustre fleece but what's underneath the wool is important too. It's no good having a fancy fleece on a poor sheep. We're aiming to breed the complete package - good wool and a good sheep," said Mr Pilkington who took the championship trophy awarded by SGS Wool Testing Services trophy and the Lustre Longwool section trophy awarded by G R Isbeque Ltd.
He expects his Wool on the Hoof champion to yield 6kg of wool when it is clipped later this month.
Other section winners in the Wool on the Hoof championships were:
Masham and Mule breeds (sponsored by H Dawson, Sons and Company) - Mike and Betty Allen, Staithes, Cleveland with a Mule shearling.
Hill breeds - (sponsored by D B Holdsworth Ltd) Chris Crowther, Oldham, Lancashire with a Lonk shearling.
Medium breeds - (sponsored by Curtis Wool Holdings Ltd) John Hall, Easingwold, North Yorkshire with a Suffolk x Half-bred .
Mountain breeds - (sponsored by L J MacDonald Ltd) Paul Capstick, Newbiggin-on-Lune, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria with a two-shear Rough Fell.
Natural Coloured breeds - (sponsored by R E Dickie Ltd) John Thorburn, Gretna with a Zwartbles shearling ewe.
Down breeds - (sponsored by Prestige Fibres) Sandra Davison, Kilburn, North Yorkshire with a Ryeland shearling ewe.
