Double triumph as sow and son take pig class rosettes

IT HAD taken her eight hours to get from Cornwall to Harrogate, but Caroline Dunstan declared the journey worth the effort, as her Saddleback sow, Nancenoy Dinah, was named supreme pig and her son, Fred, took the rosette for the smallest class in the young handlers' competition.
Fred Wilkins from Cornwall  taking part in the tiny tots section of the Young Handlers pig compeition at the Great Yorkshire Show .Fred Wilkins from Cornwall  taking part in the tiny tots section of the Young Handlers pig compeition at the Great Yorkshire Show .
Fred Wilkins from Cornwall taking part in the tiny tots section of the Young Handlers pig compeition at the Great Yorkshire Show .

It was Ms Dunstan’s seventh time in Harrogate, but her first champion at any county show.

“I’ve had reserves, but this was the crowning glory,” she said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She and her father, Michael, have been breeding pigs for 15 years. “He stays in Falmouth looking after the rest of the stock while we come on our little holiday,” she said.

The winning animal, one of 11 she brought to the show, had enjoyed the attention, she thought.

“She’s been looking really lovely. She’s eight this year - that’s quite old for a show sow, but she just loves it. She was full of beans.

“They’ve got huge personalities. It’s just like having a dog. Some of them just don’t show - they don’t like it or they get grumpy - but she just loves it.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Fred, aged three and a half, was also basking in glory, after taking away the best in class award for young handlers aged five and under.

Meanwhile a Welsh gilt, Barlings Lucky Girl, was named BPS Pig of the Year. She was entered by Sarah Ashcroft, of Low Barlings, Lincoln, who brought nine pigs to the show.

She and her husband, Paul, farm 600 acres of mixed land.

Related topics: