Northern Region Update

4th April 2012

The date for NSA North Sheep 2013 has been confirmed as Wednesday 5th June 2013.  Our venue is Crimplehead Farm, Beckwithshaw, Harrogate, North Yorkshire.  The Wilson family farming team is made up of David, David’s son Richard, his brother Martin and his father, Michael.  The family came to Crimplehead in the early 1900’s. The farm is owned by the Yorkshire Water Authority. The farm carries about 1000 horned Dalesbred ewes and 300 Masham and Mule crossbred ewes.  There are also about 100 mostly Limousin cross suckler cows put to Limousin bulls with the calves sold as stores. Planning for the event will start in the autumn. – www.northsheep.org.uk

The region will be having a stand at the Great Yorkshire Show again this year.  We provide catering and bar facilities for NSA members and sheep exhibitors, but again this year we are having to close the facility at 7.30 pm every night of the Show.  This is to try and stop the rowdy behaviour that appears to have taken over the Great Yorkshire Show over the last two to three years.  We attended a meeting with the YAS to discuss the anti social behaviour of a small minority and were informed that this year the show would be taking a positive approach to try and improve things for the exhibitors and their stock.  All of the bars on the showground, except a few pedigree cattle society bars will also close at 7.30 pm. We have been informed that a new security firm have been taken on to closely monitor the stock gates and only allow those exhibitors with wristbands onto the showground in the evening.  We all hope that a solution is found to this problem soon.

Congratulations to Arthur Yeats, Haltwhistle, Northumberland who was presented with the NSA Northern Region Lifetime Achievement Award at the Northern Region AGM in February 2012.