Summer Lodge Farm, Swaledale: Muker Show's a gem, but the competition is fierce

It’s also, and make no mistake here, fiercely competitive in the sheep rings and in the fell races, and for many local sheep men and women it is by far the most important date in their calendar, as it has always been for Steven Porter of Summer Lodge Farm and Low Oxnop Farm that looks down on the showground.

‘It’s one of the most picturesque showgrounds I think you’ll find anywhere,’ says Steven. It’s nestled in the bottom of the valley and has fantastic views everywhere. It’s a locally run show in God’s Own Country and I think it’s God’s Own Show.

‘It brings the whole community together. I won’t have missed one since I was born. I did the fell race when I was around eight to ten years old and in those days we used to go to the top. These days children don’t have to do that.

The big news this year is that Muker Show’s showground has been preserved for future generations because the show now owns the main field where the show takes place having raised the necessary funds to purchase it through donations by the community and others. Steven says it has allayed any fears that may have occurred.

‘I don’t think anyone who purchased the field would have stopped the show from taking place but we’re really pleased that the money was raised and we’d all like to thank everyone who donated. Having the main showfield owned by Muker Show just ensures that it’s here for keeps.

‘It has a real community spirit and all of the families around here are involved. My brother-in-law Ken Whitehaed is show chairman and my cousin Helen Guy is secretary.

Muker Show is unique in that at every other agricultural show in the traditional county boundary of Yorkshire you will find different breeds of sheep being shown – not so at Muker. Here the only breed you find is the Swaledale. Muker Show is the World Cup of the breed and as such every rosette won is hard earned with a scrutiny among judges and those watching, mostly other breeders, being of the highest quality.

Steven and his son Will normally do pretty well and have had reasonable success. Last year they had reserve champion with a ewe, and had a haul of, from Steven’s memory, about four or five trophies.

‘We won the points cup outright again, for points accrued over all the sheep you have entered. We’ve won that twice in the last eight years, but there’s never any guarantees.

Steven farms with his wife Carol and son Will at Summer Lodge Farm and Low Oxnop Farm, that also sees his brother Greg and his son Christopher involved.

‘Greg and Christopher are more builders now, as we had to diversify, but they still help out on the farm too. Carol looks after some holiday cottages we have and more importantly looks after four and soon to be five grandchildren.

‘Here in Upper Swaledale farms have got bigger and the local farming community has shrunk.

‘We have sheep and about twenty fattening cattle. Sheep are our main business. We also get a stewardship payment and SFI payments for drystone walling. It’s not much but sheep prices being where they’re at have helped.

‘The farm was sheep and dairy cows until the 1970s, but father was allergic to cows and had to stop milking.

‘Having sheep is bred into you, you can’t help it. It’s an affliction. I never went to college, maybe I should have done. I didn’t particularly like school and wanted to be at home working on farm. It’s been the same for Will, we needed him at home to do some work. We’ve always had to work. We’re working class farmers.

Swaledale sheep make up the core of the Porters’ main business. They have 1300 Swaledale ewes.

‘We put 700 to the Swaledale tup and 600 are put to the Bluefaced Leicester to produce the Mule. We also have another 160 mostly Mule ewes that we tup with either Texel or Beltex. Lambing starts at the end of March, with most lambing in April. The pure Swaledales lamb from the middle of April and all Swaledales lamb outside.

Steven is chairman of the Swaledale Sheep Breeders Association’s B District and tells of the breed’s popularity, which isn’t taken for granted.

‘Other breeds keep trying to beat the Swaledale but they can’t. The Swaledale is still the best sheep on hill farms. She’s a good mother that provides a lot of milk and will survive as the best as long as the Mules she provides are alright. They’ve shot up in south of England by £50 a head. Mules and Swaledales are popular. We have to keep shape of the Swaledale and that should keep it right.

‘We sell 400 Mule gimmers every year through Hawes Mart. We support Hawes, Kirkby Stephen, Middleton in Teesdale and Leyburn marts with either breeding stock or fat lambs. We take about 60 Swaledale gimmer lambs to Middleton in Teesdale with the rest going to Hawes. Hawes is our main market.

‘The Mules work well in terms of lamb numbers and if they have four lambs it isn’t a problem because we can put them on to a Swale ewe if she loses a lamb. If one has four the figures add up because they’re usually £100 a piece and more and are currently averaging £160.

One of the benefits of doing well in the ring at Muker Show is that it shows others the quality of your stock for the upcoming massive breed sales of ewes and rams.

‘We make our Swaledale tups work. They’ll tup a lot of sheep. They can easily tup over 100, so we need the right rams. We tend to run around ten tups and that means buying three or four each year at the sales, as well as selling a few.

‘We can get tups sold regularly at over £10,000 and sometimes over £20,000, but most of them are about £1,000. We bought a tup off Mark Rukin for £47,000 about 10 years ago and we sold one at £55,000 about 7-8 years ago, but it’s all more or less just moving money around.

Steven’s family have farmed in Swaledale six generations but Steven was actually born in Wensleydale.

‘My two brothers were born here above Oxnop, but I was born where my father John Whitell Porter, who is now 89, farmed for nearly 10 years. We came back here when I was three. Mum is still in charge and Will tells me what to do these days.