Twicey Show (Roman Wall Show) 9th June 2012

A day off! Or ought I say a day off which was pre planned. Everyone I worked for knew that Saturday 9th June was going to be a day off; no one would have dared suggest Shep changed her mind. It was time to head away and catch up with some crack, view some decent sheep and basically enjoy a leisurely day at the Twicey show. Which was exactly what I did.

Once again old Glen and myself disappeared off for the day and headed away for our annual trip to Hadrians Wall and it's annual sheep show.

 

A beautiful setting for a show, even when the weather is somewhat anti social as it was on Saturday.

 

The weather was threatening as these clipped tup hoggs were showing themselves off in the ring, it must feel strange to get the rain on your backs when a good covering of wool had been the norm for the preceding months, but they aren't the only ones bare, Shep has already clipped ewe hoggs on a couple of farms and there are many more to do.

 

By the time the Blackfaced tup lambs were being judged the weather had indeed broken. It didn't just rain, it poured down, like a thunder spate, all that was missing was the rumble of thunder itself. A true cloudburst which seemed to be relentless.

 

There are some wiser than myself, these two retired shepherds took me by surprise when an umbrella surfaced. I had been enjoying their company and crack but there wasn't room for me under there as well, I took shelter behind them instead. Two very sound sheep men from which much can be learnt if you take heed. They did inform me that they thought the umbrella ought to be fitted with down spouts - just shows how wet it was!

 

The mule men seemed to hold off judging their lambs until the downpour subsided, the sun even came out! As did the midges!

 

The rain held off whilst the blackfaced championship was judged, all the first prize winners from the various classes, both male and female were in the ring together before the judge decided which one he deemed the best of the lot, this year it went to a ewe lamb from Wanwood Hill. The mule ewe lamb championship was won by Carry House.

 

There was a good turnout of sheep on the day and of a high standard too, although there may have been slightly fewer entries in the classes than previous years, the weather may have been responsible for this or maybes the change of date for the Cumberland show may have had a slight affect on the show, regardless there was still plenty of sheep for the judges to scrutinize.

 

It would seem this Swaledale tup collected more than one rosette, in actual fact there was more than one sheep in the pen, I just zoomed in!

I had decided upon arrival at the show not to show old Glen, he got out of the car and seemed a bit lame and wobbly, he is 12 year old now and suffering badly from arthritis so it was asking a bit much, however, a friend suggested I really ought to, so I got him out of the car and took him onto the field, he really perked up when poddling around meeting other dogs and children who wanted to stroke him.

 

He seemed quite cheerful when he met this pack of Border terriers, showing his best side and trying to woo the girls amongst them! Anyhow, to cut a long story short, somehow we missed the judging. It must have been meant to be is all I can say! He has won there for the past two years by sheer luck and now, even older and wobblier, it was really asking a bit much, so we were saved the embarrassment of not being chosen by actually not even competing - a fine way to bow out I would say! (I have since met the judge of the day on the road and had a crack with him, the first thing he asked was why I hadn't shown old Glen! Oops!!)

 

The day came to an end. It had been a most enjoyable day off. Fortunately I had been wise enough not to park on the field upon arrival and there is no doubt my car would not have got off it at night without this sort of assistance. The day was rounded off nicely by calling on a long standing and very dear friend whom I hadn't seen for a couple of years, supper was offered and accepted with the result Shep didn't arrive home 'til bed time - that's the way to enjoy a day off!

Glens misdemeanors

Glen - the sheepdog, you should know the fella by now, he keeps getting posts written about himself every now and again. You may recall that last summer he managed to win a red rossette at the twicey show even though he had a swollen face which later ran into vets bills for some pretty serious dentistry work.

He trotted along to the twicey show again this year, was entered in the class titled "the best looking collie dog" and hey presto! once again he won the red (1st prize) rossette which is no mean feat for a dog clocking on 11 year old and with half his teeth missing, not to mention a slightly bent leg! The show were even kinder this year and split the class between dogs and bitches which then meant good ol' Glen had to strut his stuff against the first prize bitch to try and take the championship.

Fortunately for him and unfortunately for her she was coming in heat, me being wise I decided to follow her around the ring which had Glen up on his toes, showing his best side and trying to woo the female, she wasn't too impressed with the idea and tucked her tail tight between her legs, glowered at him and spent her time looking for the exit route. Believe it or not but he won the Championship rossette - bless him!

 

I have to say he seemed quite pleased with his little self but couldn't quite understand why he wasn't allowed to get to know the bitch dog a little bit better!

There's no doubt he is a very bonny dog and considering his age he doesn't show it, not a grey hair to be seen (not like some of us!)Infact Glen is more than just a bonny dog, he's one of the kindest natured dogs I've ever had, a true gent, not an ounce of bad in him unless it's dead and rancid or female and on heat. Over the years he has also proven to be one of the most expensive dogs I've ever had. The accountant has even queried the vets bills although I quickly explain and do remind him that he is still working and as such is still a business expense.

This year was looking up. Other than his daily medication for arthritis the dog hadn't incurred any other costs - amazing! That is until he decided to misbehave.

At lambing time he was bequethed to the other half. I had Moss, top dog, and of course the little whipper snapper Kale to contend with, the logistics of Glen as well was all too much so he was left at home to keep an eye on the other half, or was it the other way around? Anyhow, he became tractor dog until I returned when he decided he really was a sheep dog and would sooner travel with me and the other two.

Odd days he would be left behind with his new 'owner' and on one of these occasions he had found himself barred up in the dog run. However, life wasn't that simple, the other half found he had vanished, after first ripping up the weld mesh of the dog run. A 'phone call received from a farmer a few miles up the road soon had him tracked down. Bloodied and lame he was collected and returned to where he belonged.

A car had passed him on the road, apparently going like the clappers and it was presumed by the driver that the dog may have been hit by a vehicle as his white bib had quite a pinkish/reddish hue about it, he was also lame. The car driver very kindly offered Glen a lift and took him to the nearest farm which fortunately was one we work on and the dog was recognised.

No. he didn't get a trip down to the vets, he likes those vets far too much in my mind, anyhow, he might have won £6 prize money but that wasn't even going to pay to repair the dog run let alone a trip to the vets. A thorough inspection of his battered body showed that it wasn't battered at all but all totally self inflicted, bloodied mouth and sore feet from tugging at the weld mesh. Upon my return I got a sheepish wag of the tail, when I scolded him and threatened him with a gun I got a bigger wag of the tail! huh! them dogs have just about got the upper hand on me!

The other half got scolded as well for not looking after his dog properly, after all he was always an angel in my care!

The incident was put behind us and Glen was put to work for the next few weeks, he loves penning sheep and is very useful at clipping time, except he hasn't yet learnt how to open gates, otherwise he will work his butt off in the pens keeping sheep forward all day to be clipped.

 

I kept reminding him he had bills to pay and needed to work harder, of course I may as well have been talking in kiswahili or bangladeshi coz he would just wag his tail and take any words as words of endearment - what it must be to be so easily pleased!

Many days he would be filthy, covered in sheep shit and clarts from running back and forwards on concrete pens, where possible he was always taken down to the burn at the end of the day to at least get the rough of it off his coat.

 

The only dog I've ever had who loves swimming, he is at least easily encouraged to enter water and as he now lives in the house it does pay to get him cleaned off a bit.

Eventually the dog run was repaired and all was looking well when once again Glen took a funny turn. The four of us were actually working at the farm which had taken Glen in after he was picked up on the road, I say four of us were working........ Glen had been left in the car whilst Moss and I, with Kale trotting along on a learning curve, brought sheep in to the pens. Once in the pens Glen appeared. Oh! It wasn't really a problem and I just presumed that I'd left the window of the car too far down and he'd jumped out (although he has never jumped out of a car window before)

A little later and the farmer came up from the buildings and asked if I'd wanted air conditioning in my car. A puzzled look and a frown made him laugh as he explained the drivers door window was shattered.

It was no joke, good old Glen had gone one further and managed to smash the window. A dog who has travelled in a car all his life, never attempted to escape and here he was, as happy as a sand boy in the sheep pens leaving carnage behind him. !?**?**/! Aargh...........! I got home at night and ranted to the other half "YOUR dog......... he was never like that when he was MY dog!"

An online trip to a scrap yard eventually tracked down a replacement window which other half and nephew fitted and dog was back out of the dog house. Until....... he finally won and got a trip down to the vets - Aargh!

Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with him. I've raided his piggy bank and paid for the privelege of being told his is very well. Unfortunately new regulations saw him unable to receive his repeat prescription for his anti inflammatory painkiller until he had had a check up. Seemingly this is a new policy with animals checked every six months. The vets and receptionists were so pleased to see him, after all he did spend a lot of time in their care a few years back and like everyone else who meets him, they do like him.

A few minutes with a vet who sounded his heart and told him what a lovely dog he was and off we went, medicine in hand and a few quid lighter in the pocket. The old bugger is worth it tho' but I do keep warning him that a bullet would be a lot cheaper, he just wags his tail!

Roman Wall Show 11th June 2011

 

Is it really a year since the last twicey show? Blimey! how time flies, they do say though that time flies when you're having fun so I guess I must have been having a lot of fun over the last year!

Once again the Roman Wall Show had a tremendous turnout of sheep present. It never fails to amaze me that the show is so early in the season, not long after lambing time and yet the quality and quantity of sheep present is awesome, a credit to the industry, it has to be one of the best sheep shows in the area, regardless of the time of year.

 

The two photos above show the first mule ewe lamb class to be judged. These are mule lambs out of the blackfaced ewe and there were 36 (if my counting was correct) in the class to be judged with only 3 prizes to be won. The mule is a cross bred sheep. A bluefaced leicester tup is crossed onto the hill breeds of blackfaced or swaledale sheep to produce the much desired mule, a breed which is the mainstay of the 'in-bye' breeding flocks. Northumberland, due to the number of hill ewes present in the county, produces a lot of mule lambs and a show such as the twicey show is a great shop window to advertise your wares before the autumn sales commence.

 

The final line up above, the 36 were whittled down to three, with first prize going to Whiteside.

 

 

Classes for mule lambs out of the swaledale ewe were also hotly contested, with the overall champion being one of these lambs bred out of the swaledale from High Town (note the sky - the weather was changing!)

 

Swaledale sheep were also being judged. It isn't always possible to view all the sheep being judged at once, supporters of a particular breed tend to watch the judging of that breed and miss the other breeds on show due to the sheep having their own 'show rings' to be set out into to be judged, these are not side by side and so I had to take a quick gander around to catch up on some of the other breeds, unfortunately I overlooked the blue faced leicesters!

 

 

There are only classes for four breeds of sheep at the Roman Wall Show. These being Blackfaced, Swaledale, Blue Faced Leicester and Mule ewe lambs. There was however a Texel group shown in the committee members class, this being a class open to all breeds of sheep bred by a member of the show committee.

 

There were many various classes to be judged within the blackfaced breed of sheep and the skies became more and more threatening as the judging commenced.

 

 

The weather finally broke, the beer tent filled to over flowing as all those hardy souls ran for shelter. Shep headed for the car and returned donned in wellies and leggins, then hit the beer tent!

 

I did squeeze under a brolly for a short while whilst group and committee classes were judged. The overall sheep champion of the day was eventually awarded to a blackfaced tup from Sewingshields, the Murray lads looked soaked and bedraggled but cheerful with it. No photo - sorry!

Not only did it turn wet but unbelievably cold with it. The childrens sports were cancelled but all the hound and terrier classes went ahead, even the cumberland wrestlers braved the conditions and fought it out throughout the rain. Leaving the showfield became difficult with some of the stall holders finding themselves pushed off by willing youngsters, my sturdy old car made it off without too much bother, the showfield had turned greasy but there was no depth of mud so I was fortunate, however, I didn't leave it too late, preferring to leave before the ground got too churned up.

A shame to have the weather break, but lucky also that it held out for most of the sheep judging, those who were going to attend the show were in attendance, had paid to get in so hopefully the show itself will not have suffered too much of a financial loss. Regardless of the weather it was a good day, an excellent show of sheep and many a crack (conversation) was had, catching up with folks not seen since before the lambing.