Reasons why all roads lead to Leyburn

THIS series, visiting Yorkshire’s livestock markets, has been a pretty solitary affair. To put it bluntly, there aren’t many volunteers to get up early and drive across the county with me.

But when it came to Leyburn the passenger seat could have been filled several times over – even though the date of our trip fell on a Friday 13.

In the end, it was my farmer father who accompanied me and there was no way he was going to miss a trip to Leyburn Livestock Auction Mart’s New Year prize show and sale.

“If you go to one sale at Leyburn it should be this one,” he told me, flicking through the list of 354 steers and heifers that would be coming under the hammer, as well as 78 feeding bulls and over 100 rearing calves.

We got a warm welcome from auctioneer Stephen Walker who, my father judged, is at the top of his game.

“You can tell he’s worked in Scotland,” the voice of experience told me. “He’s rattling through them.”

Stephen comes from a farming family up in the Dales near Sedbergh and started work at Kendal Market at a young age. He had ten years in years in Scotland before moving back home via a spell in Northumberland.

“I liked farming but knew it wasn’t for me seven days a week,” he recalls. “Auctioneering seemed just right. Farming connected, but plenty of variety.”

The market itself stands at the top end of the town, with many a farmer’s wife bobbing off to do some shopping down a very handy pathway.

It was a two-way traffic, with plenty of people from the town wandering up to market for a spot of lunch and a wander around. While many of the markets visited for this series, such as Malton and Northallerton, are pondering tricky questions about the future of their town centre locations Leyburn seems to fit hand-in-glove with its market.

“I think the secret is that we’ve got adequate space,” says Stephen. “We don’t feel under any pressure to go anywhere else – the market works a treat within the town. Shopkeepers appreciate the amount of business that travels down in their direction on market days. The proximity of the town provides that extra bustle but, as I said, it’s not that we cause any inconvenience. We’re very lucky with the size of the site.”

Because our visit was on a special sale date the market was heaving, with a good mix of age groups. Stephen tries to organise a few things with the local young farmers’ club such as young handler competitions to encourage them to come to the market.Rachel Terry worked in the market office for 11years and then had a three-year break, before coming back as company secretary.

She is joined in the office by Sylvia Bowes and Alison Marshall.

“I’m a farmer’s daughter and a farmer’s wife. I started out working in the canteen when I was a schoolgirl,” says Rachel.

“It feels like I’ve never had those three years away, there’s nothing quite like market days. The farmers pull our legs and there’s always a great atmosphere.

“The fact we’re in the town helps, it probably means we get a lot more of the farmers’ wives coming to market than those that are out-of-town.”

Anne Sunter runs the market café. She’s worked here since before she left school, baking and waiting on tables for her auntie who ran it before her. She has about five staff, plus her daughter Claire who is brimming with enthusiasm.

“Working here is a very social thing, you get to know everybody and people are so friendly,” says Anne.

Anne’s best seller is steak pie. She remembers how foot and mouth only closed the café for a few weeks. She took the decision to open up in order to provide a meeting place for farmers where farmers would be welcome gather and talk over their troubles.

The market chairman, Richard Tuer, has been a director since 1988. He farms in nearby Bishopdale, regularly bringing sheep and cattle to sell at the mart.

Like many of the other markets visited, this chairman took his turn on the gate – letting the stock into the sale ring.

It must be something of a tradition, as this has been the chairman’s job at the majority of markets. He spoke highly of the sponsors of this special sale, Tennants Auction Centre and the mineral firm Tithebarn.

“We rely on them a lot for prize money, rosettes and such like,” he says. “Sponsors help make these big sales that bit more special.”

The idea of sponsorship seems very on-the-ball, as does the market’s corporate identity. Staff wearing green jumpers and jackets all emblazoned with the market logo.

Farmer Bob Hide, who had travelled here from Wakefield, said the journey was worthwhile because of the quality of the stock.

Many others had travelled long distances, with farmers we recognised from Helmsley, Selby and much further afield.

This high quality of animals was reflected in the prices. We didn’t have to wait long for the £1,000 barrier to be broken for young animals that this correspondent had presumed – obviously incorrectly – would be doing well to fetch £800. “You’re way out,” schooled my travelling companion. “Good cattle like these make good money.”

Leyburn auction facts

Leyburn Auctions, Richmond Road, Leyburn. 01969 623167. www.leyburnauctions.com Wednesdays: weekly primestock sale. Fridays: Sales include rearing calves and stirk. Special monthly stirk sale first Friday each month. Followed by dairy cattle. Store cattle and feeding bulls fortnightly. Prize shows, October to May. Special monthly Beef Breeding Cattle Sales include those on behalf of the North East Limousin Breeders Club.