Daughter of one of "greatest livestock showmen of all time" takes the reins at Wensleydale Show

Sarah Liddle has carved out a reputation in the dairy world and still retains a small herd of show cows that saw her take Reserve All-Britain Senior Heifer with Salcrest Crusha Lausine for cumulative performance, but Sarah has also made her name during the past 14 years in the business of agricultural marketing and consultancy.

Sarah has now taken on the role of chair of Wensleydale Show, which takes place next Saturday 27 August at the showground just outside Leyburn on the Bellerby road.

Sarah said her abiding and amusing memory of attending her first show committee meeting some years ago was of seeing the reaction to her involvement.

“It was about 25 years ago. Maurice Harrison, the then chief cattle steward, had said to me that he thought I was needed on the show committee.

“I remember going along to that first meeting and sitting with the older men of the livestock committee at the back of the room. They were all dairy farmers and knew who I was either because of my work as a semen rep; or because of my dad Bernard Liddle who ran the Dalesend herd; or because they had seen me showing.

“I could see some of the ladies from other sections nudging each other and going ‘who’s she?’ or ‘where’s she come from?’ because they must have been out at work when I’d visited their farms.

“Wensleydale Show has always been our local show and we would take our animals and I’ve never been one who stays quiet on a committee as I don’t see the point in that, so for the past 20 or so years I have always chipped in, although most of that has been about cattle-related matters.

Sarah said that when she started on the committee she was one of the youngest and that things haven’t changed too much.

“We do have a few younger ones, but we need to recruit the next generation.

“We are a true Dales show and we get a lot of people who come here to retire who get involved which is great, but the future of the show needs younger people.

“Part of the problem for agricultural shows is that those in their 20s to 50s are pushing on and running farms at home, but largely without that extra pair of hands that used to be around and that allowed them the time to give to their local show. We do have wonderful people like local farmers David Ford, Kenton Foster, James Pratt and others all involved.

“David has been showfield manager for a number of years and his wife Joan has been chief sheep steward for a long time. James and Joyce Sunter are our joint presidents. Their field is our showfield. We are always grateful for that, as we are to Richard Ford for the use of his field for car parking.

“Alex Welch is chief cattle steward and we have Julie Clarke and Anne Guy who have run the handicrafts classes for a long time.

Sarah said Wensleydale Show hadn’t had a gap because of Covid.

“We held a very successful online show in 2019 that we found exposed the show to others. We had entries from a young Ryeland sheep breeder in Essex and a couple of Jersey calves from the island itself. The new ideas it brought about has opened our eyes to incorporating some of those into the live show, that we recommenced last year.

“We’ve changed our marketing of the show too, fully embracing social media and holding competitions for free tickets, but we are always conscious of the show itself and keeping it current to everyone.

“We have our main livestock classes and I’m pleased to say our dairy classes are still strong with individual classes for Holsteins and Shorthorns plus an Any Other Dairy Breed class that attracts Jerseys, Guernseys and Ayrshires.

“Our sheep classes this year include new classes for North Country Cheviots and Valais Blacknose alongside a number of others and we have been gifted a new trophy for the native beef breeds for the pairs classes from a Mr Roberts in Wales who has attended the show for many years.

Sarah added: “We have classes for Wensleydale sheep which will be judged by local man Freddie Lawson who is another who has done countless hours and days on behalf of the show attracting local businesses to support. We’re not a wealthy show but we have reserves because of the time and commitment of such as Freddie who farms in Coverdale.

“We also have main ring attractions and this year those will include a BMX display and birds of prey demonstrations. We believe that Wensleydale Show, at just £10 per adult is well worth it.