The Yorkshire couple juggling sheep farming and a wedding photography business

“North Yorkshire County Show is probably our biggest local show for the amount of sheep we take. We try to support it as much as we can and enter an array of classes.

“We currently have 45 pedigree ewes of which we have 30 Blue Texels, 12 Hampshire Downs and three Badger Face Texels.

"I put ten of the Blue Texels to a Beltex tup to provide quality commercial tups. We have five working tups across the three breeds and I’m using frozen semen for the Beltex genetics on the Blue Texels.

"We lamb the Hampshires in December/January and the rest from February onwards.”

Showing, and for the past decade judging, has been a major part of James’ life since he was not quite as big as some of his sheep.

“I started very early, entered young handlers classes, had my own sheep when I was about eight years old and took to stockjudging competitions through YFC competitions where I won at national level.

"I was a member of Lower Wensleydale YFC and then Catterick YFC.

“I have also trimmed sheep for showing for many years, not just for myself but for others. I’ve been doing it more professionally since 2020.

"I now trim up to 400 sheep for other people for shows and sales. It’s just grown from doing it for myself.”

James has already been successful in the show ring this year and will be hopeful that he and Nikki can repeat their successes of the past two seasons.

“We had champion and reserve Blue Texel at Otley Show in May. We get to between ten to 12 shows a year and last year we had three Interbreed champions at Otley, Osmotherley and Aldborough & Boroughbridge and two reserve interbreed champions.

"We won 11 breed championships and 11 reserve breed championships.

"We also had reserve champion with a Badger Face and reserve female Hampshire Down at the Great Yorkshire Show with Nikki showing her breed, it was only her second time showing them.

“The best we’ve had at the Great Yorkshire was when we had breed champion in the Any Other Breed class before Blue Texel had their own class. We’ve also had reserve champion carcase.”

James says that, in common with many other breeders, shows are not just about showing stock.

“You get the recognition, but importantly the shows are our shop window for selling pedigree stock. All of our females will be mainly sold into the pedigree market.

“The tups will be aimed at the commercial trade, with a handful going to pedigree breeders.

“The main society show and sale of Blue Texels is at Borderway Mart in Carlisle. The best we’ve done there was reserve bred champion with a gimmer lamb selling for £2,600. Our target is to beat that.”

James has had Blue Texels since he, his parents and his sister started with them in 2001.

“I was about eight at the time and it was just something different for me and dad.

"He’d started off with Jacobs originally, then we had a few commercial continental sheep and then decided we wanted something more for the showing scene. I started with Beltex in 2008.”

Judging at shows is another of James’ passions.

“I’ve been judging for the last eight to ten years. I love it. It’s the one time when your opinion is what counts, and you also get to see what other people are doing within the breed.

"You’re always looking at ways to improve your flock and being able to handle everything in the show ring is a good way of seeing something you might not have in your own. I’d love to judge at the Great Yorkshire.”

The one major disappointment James has had in his life was when his family had to give up their 150-acre tenanted farm in Hunton.

“I’d run it the last six years. I’d always wanted to be a farmer. I studied part-time at Askham Bryan College through to Level 3 National Diploma.

"I’d always worked at other local farms, shepherding or cattle work and had worked as a drover at Leyburn and Northallerton marts.

“We were commercially based around the Blue Texel and had 450 mainly commercial ewes using the Beltex and the Mule.

"At first, it was me, my parents Andrew and Lynda, and sister Joanne – then me, mum and sister. We tried to keep mainly homebred stock and had 120 ewes before moving to Hunton.

"Since we left in 2022 I kept a small amount of pedigree sheep on land I rented where I worked at the time.

"It was tough, probably more so on the cattle side. It was selling my favourite cow, Chocolate, at Darlington that saw me trying to hold it together a bit.

"She was the last one we sold. That’s when everything hit. Nikki was with me at the time.”

James had met Nikki at his sister’s wedding some years ago, but it was in 2022 that they got together. Earlier this year, James proposed, in his own special way.

“I proposed in January. I sprayed ‘Marry Me’ on one of her Hampshire Downs and got her a puppy working collie that said ‘Will you?’ on the collar.

“We lived in Catterick village before I got this job. Nikki’s a wedding photographer and from the sale of our stock I put some money into Nikki’s business. We now have two photo booths.

"We’ve just won Best Yorkshire Photo Booth. We can be at a show during the day, come back, get changed and out again with the photo booths that same night in two different spots.

“Nikki has fallen in love with the showing. We both have that competitive nature. Sheep showing is all about hard work, attention to detail and never stopping learning and improving.

James says he’s looking forward to North Yorkshire County Show.

“It comes straight after Lincolnshire Show, which we also really like as it’s a nice relaxed show.”

North Yorkshire County Show takes place at Otterington Hall next Sunday, June 21.