Rounding up a late entry to calendar

The show season is drawing 
to an end and the bunting is being packed. However Chris Berry reports on one big-name event which is just getting started.

When it comes to handling sheepdogs, Charles Cutler of Pilly Hall Farm, Easby, is in a league of his own.

He has represented England on several occasions during his 30-year career and is also now one of the leading sheepdog trials judges.

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In the past decade he has judged at the English National Sheepdog Trials and last year he was one of the judges at the World Sheepdog Trials held 
in Lowther Park, Cumbria.

Next Saturday he once again swaps his “come by” for more of the “go there” approach, as he gets the sheep entries in order for this year’s 140th Stokesley Show.

Charles is the chief sheep steward and took on the mantle of “chief” around a dozen years ago following a long “apprenticeship”.

As Yorkshire’s agricultural show season draws to a 
close, having started way 
back in May with Otley, this show is a firm reminder of the pulling power of shows wherever they are held in the county.

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Stokesley Show attracts an attendance of over 12,000 every year and retains a very strong farming influence with a considerable number of cattle and sheep entries and many agricultural-based companies taking trade stands.

With a catchment area that extends up into the Teesside and Durham areas, as well as its North Yorkshire heartland, it is one of the top events on the agricultural calendar.

And while the horrendous weather seen over the summer has taken its toll this year in terms of cancelled or curtailed shows, organisers will be hoping that the forecast for clear weather 
this weekend is proved accurate.

Charles farms just down the road from the showground at Easby and has done for over 40 years, with his wife Win.

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He was born even closer to Stokesley, but only by about a mile.

“I haven’t moved much have I? I came here in my early 20s.

“My father, Robert, grew potatoes and cereals, and fattened cattle. It was a typical mixed farm, but with two brothers and two sisters it got a bit crowded.

“I was the eldest and was given the opportunity of coming here as a tenant farmer.

“We now own the farm, which runs to 70 acres. We rent other land where and when it is available.”

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Over the 40 years Charles has lived at Pilly Hall he 
has made several changes to his agricultural business and at one time he was out on the road a great deal travelling from farm to farm.

“I was a contract sheep shearer and I’d be out and about all over North Yorkshire and South Durham.

“It was a good way of getting to see what other farmers had by way of their stock and quite an education too!

“When I first came here we had a dairy herd of around 20-25 milkers, and to show you how long ago that was we were still using milk churns.

“I also grew cereal crops and fattened cattle.

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“Up until 10 years ago I also ran another farm but as I got older I decided to cut back and concentrate on Pilly Hall.”

Charles’ sheep enterprise has changed over the years too.

“Like many others he had Mashams, which were crossed with the Suffolk ram. As Mashams fell out of fashion and favour throughout North Yorkshire he moved towards Mules.

“All of our Mule ewes are now put to the Texel ram. We still have a few Mashams in the flock but of the 400 ewes most are Mules.

“We used to have a much larger number but what we have now is manageable and works well.

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“Undoubtedly we get better conformation with the Texel influence and that’s what the butchers are looking for.

“I usually buy Mule gimmer lambs in each year and I’ll be looking around the sales during the next month.

“We lamb in April and everything is handled outside. I used to lamb inside but that was very labour-intensive as I spent a good deal of time carrying sheep about.

“I’m not quite as mobile 
as I used to be either, so it’s much easier to lamb outside.”

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Stokesley Livestock Market closed in 2004. It was close to Charles’ farm and is sadly missed by a number of his fellow farmers in the area.

“He sold stock there every Tuesday for many years but now uses Thirsk, Northallerton and Darlington.

“It’s the way of the world. It seems that everything is moving into fewer hands.

“It was only five minutes down the road for me, but for one reason or another it had to fold.

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“We’re fortunate to have three markets that are all relatively close.

While the livestock market may have gone the show remains and Charles feels 
his 47-year involvement through stewarding is one of the ways he has of giving something back to the rural community.

“At times it can be inconvenient because if you’re growing crops and it happens to be a late harvest the show can get in the way, but we’ve always managed to arrange things so that we’re there.

“I always enjoy the show 
and started stewarding in my late teens. It’s about doing your bit for the locality and since I’d always been interested in sheep I took on the stewarding for the classes.”

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One of the things you won’t see at Stokesley Show next Saturday is Charles and 
his border collie Ben at 
work.

“We used to have sheepdog trials as part of the show day, but as the show has grown there isn’t really the space that’s needed now.

“So about 10 years ago we took the trials out of show day and moved them into May.

“They now take place using the whole of the show field.

“We start planning for the sheep sections around February time.

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“I have a meeting around my kitchen table and we go through the schedule looking at any changes that need to be made and addressing any criticisms that need to be put right.

“Sometimes Stokesley suffers a little for sheep entries because of it being a little late in the season.

“A lot of breed sales take place just before the show 
and that can mean that breeders don’t attend because they’ve just sold their stock, but this year we have done really well.

“We have 396 sheep entries in 76 classes.

“All of the main breeds such as Texel, Suffolk, Charollais, Beltex, Blue Faced Leicester, Mule, Teeswater, Masham, Swaledale and Blackface are represented.

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“About 10 years ago we also started a Rare Breeds section that is growing each year.

“The general public like to see all of the breeds and to have some that they are unfamiliar with is always an interest.

“This year we are hoping to do the kind of commentary where judges talk about what they have been looking for and why they have chosen the sheep they have as the winners.

“We’re hoping that one or two judges will do it.”

The 140th Stokesley Show will take place on Saturday September 22.

Stokesley show history

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Stokesley Agricultural Society was founded in 1859 when a group of farmers got together in a pub called The Golden Lion in the High Street.

It is now Chapters Hotel. The society purchased the land that is Stokesley Showground in 1955 making it a permanent facility.

This year’s show president is farmer’s wife Jean Hugill. Jean instigated the phenomenal growth of the Produce & Handicraft section of the show and joins an illustrious list of former presidents that includes William Hague MP, Sir Ben Gill and Dorothy Fairburn MBE in 2011.

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