Stokesley Show: Honour for president who has been involved since the 1960s and is known for his sheepdog training prowess

“I guess nobody else would do it,” says Charles who typically laughs it off as he’s not known for courting tributes.

“I don’t know the reason why I was chosen this year. I had a visit from the show chairman Neil Waters. It’s a real honour to be asked, as it was all those years ago when I was asked to become a sheep steward. I’ve been involved with the sheep nearly every show since and chief sheep steward for more years than I remember.

“I’ve always classed it as a privilege to be supporting the show. I was in my late teens when I started helping. It was through Stokesley Young Farmers Club that I got the job because we had a sheep judging competition and I was invited after that to be sheep steward.

“I’m on the show council and generally I just jump in on show day with a wonderful team of about 14 or 15 sheep stewards who make my job easy.

While the ‘golf balls’ at Fylingdales became a North Yorkshire landmark in the 60s Stokesley Show has its own magnificent landmark with Roseberry Topping seen clearly in the distance from the showground.

Stokesley Show is one of North Yorkshire’s biggest shows in the summer agricultural show season and with Nidderdale Show that now takes place on the Sunday these two shows bring down the curtain on the summer show season with huge crowds of around 15,000 to 20,000 dependent on the weather.

“Our sheep classes have grown over the years I’ve been involved,” says Charles. “Our numbers are up on last year. The Texels are our biggest classes and we do well with the Swaledales and many others, but there has been a real the growth in the number of hobby farmers showing rare breeds like Greyfaced Dartmoors, Hebrideans, Soays and Jacobs. We also do well with the young handlers.

Charles will be accompanied in his presidential duties by his wife Win, who will be lady president.

“Win was involved in the show before me,” says Charles. “She’s a farmer’s daughter from Bilsdale and worked at Midland Bank in Stokesley, which is how she got involved taking money at the gate. She also helped me with organising of the sheep section including getting the judges, and we have a lot of them, for a number of years.

“We are both looking forward to having a proper walk around the show, something you don’t get to do that readily when you’re involved as a chief steward of a section. The chairman says he has a few surprises in store for us, so it will be interesting to see how the day goes.

Charles grew up on the family farm just down the road from Pilly Hall Farm, Easby that he took on as a tenant before he and Win, who were married in 1967, bought the farm in the years to come.

“I didn’t take over from my father. I left the family farm to go on my own. I got the opportunity to farm here at Pilly Hall. I had two brothers who took over the family farm, just down the road between Easby and Stokesley.

“Win and I had another farm that we had took on and we farmed sheep, cereals and potatoes. With the two farms we ran to just over 200 acres. When we had the flock at its biggest we had around 500 Mule ewes. We’ve now just seven and a neighbouring farmer now farms our 70 acres here.

The reason why Charles would more likely be able to quote English National Sheepdog Trials winners is that sheepdogs have always been his thing. He has been in the England team on a number of occasions and he won the English section of One Man & His Dog with his favourite sheepdog Sheena when the TV cameras came to Pilly Hall.

“She was such a great sheepdog,” says Charles. “I’m still running dogs but not to the degree I was in 80s and 90s. Then I’d have maybe four on at any one time. I would sell the odd ones but generally I used them for my own purposes. I had dogs coming through all the time.

“I didn’t have a dog qualified for this year’s English Trials in South Yorkshire, but also with the way TV is today I can now sit at home and watch it. I did it that way this time.

Charles wrote a story for the show newsletter recently and mentioned an old story about preparing for Stokesley Show.

“I wrote that you always tried to get finished harvesting in time for the show but that now, due to better plant breeding, bigger machines and a warmer climate everyone is now finished way before the show. Time moves on and things change.

“I’m no longer farming but I thoroughly enjoyed my time and Win and I are able to enjoy our grandchildren and I’m able to mess around with my dogs a bit.

“I’m looking forward to Stokesley Show, hope it’s a fine day, a good turnout and that everyone enjoys themselves.