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A hard flock to bleat

From the Evening Press, first published Thursday 22nd Aug 2002.

BROTHER and sister Liam and Lorna Yewdall have taken the sheep judging world by storm at agricultural shows by scooping a cabinet full of trophies and a wall full of rosettes with their prize flock of Suffolk sheep.

Liam and Lorna, of Youlthorpe, near Malton, are just 12 and 15 respectively, yet their hard work, knowledge and dedication to the flock has seen then winning awards at the prestigious Royal and Great Yorkshire Shows this year.

While their father Graham runs the 185-acre Wolds farm, Liam and Lorna play a major role in caring for the 238-strong flock which includes some 100 breeding ewes.

They attribute the success of their flock - named the Landley flock after Liam and Lorna's own names - to support from legendary breeders Richard and Alec Bulmer, of Great Habton, and also Alan Upton, of Knapton, a well-known shepherd and judge, now retired from Raymond Twiddle's estate at Knapton Hall.

"We owe them a great deal because they have been so supportive and helpful," said Graham. "As a result the flock has gone from strength to strength."

He had bred cross-bred sheep for several years but it was Lorna who persuaded him that the family's success in sheep lay in Suffolks. "She has a natural ability in handling them, often spending two or three hours at a time with them in the field."

As a result, she has earned praise from seasoned breeders and judges for the way she presents the exhibiting sheep in the ring. "We got our first Suffolks in 1997 and since then the children have got more and more involved in running the flock," said Graham.

Lorna's first big success came at the 2000 Malton Show where she won the championship, reserve champion, three first prizes and a silver trophy.

That spurred her and Liam on to achieve even greater things.They decided to go for the big time, taking a first and second prize at The Royal and out of the 12 classes they entered at the Great Yorkshire were awarded no fewer than eight first prizes, three seconds and a fourth.

The breeding success of the Landley flock is put down to the most famous ram in the Suffolk sheep world - one Pandymoor Prelude who has sired off-spring worth over £1m.

"We bought him to build up our foundation stock," said Graham. He died at the age of eight and is now buried in a specially-marked grave on the farm but the family still have some of his semen for future breeding.

Graham says the aim is to breed a more modern type of Suffolk to enable the breed to compete with such continental strains as the Texel.

Sheep are now being bred specially for showing at the Smithfield Show.

Liam, who owns the sheep jointly with Lorna, said: "They are lovely sheep to work with and we get a lot of pleasure preparing them for shows as well as looking after them on a daily basis."

Next on the Yewdall family's calendar are the Kelso lamb sales at Kelso in September, which will see the Suffolk's returning to the town where they won the championship at the Border Union Show.

Updated: 10:09 Thursday, August 22, 2002

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