IF you ’ re going to be beaten in the show ring it is an easier pill to swallow if the champion happens to be an animal you ’ ve sold and that ’ s exactly what happened for John Eggleton of High Moor Farm just out of Meltham at this year ’ s Great Yorkshire Show when his Derbyshire Gritstone was placed reserve behind Jim and Christine Scriven ’ s tup .
‘ I don ’ t like losing but you don ’ t mind it as much when you ’ re beaten by one you ’ ve bred . We sold him for the second top tup price at last year ’ s breed sale at Clitheroe , so we certainly can ’ t complain , Jim and Christine had got him looking really well .’
‘ Breeding quality tups to sell for good prices at the main registered breed sale over in Clitheroe in early October is our focus and we ’ ve had breed champion there many times . If you are breeding good tups it follows that you must be breeding good ewes as well . We currently have 400 breeding ewes and breed all our own replacements . We produce purebred Derbyshire Gritstones and cross some with the Texel tup to create good lambs that sell well mainly as stores at Holmfirth mart but also fat lambs .’
‘ You get a decent lamb out of a Grit X Texel far better in my opinion than a Texel X Mule . It ’ s the good thick body that does the trick .
74912 - Neil J Bland Chartered Surveyor - 8TH . pdf 1 01 / 08 / 2018 11:25:25
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‘ We sold 15 tups at Clitheroe last year selling mostly shearling tups . That ’ s where the main market is for Grits and where the buyers attend . The best tups are still more likely to be bought by the bigger breeders as they have more use for them but the influx of new breeders , some of whom may have bought a house with land and perhaps have 10-20 ewes initially as grass munchers , has also led to greater demand as interest grows in rare breeds . They now want the best they can buy and are showing a greater interest in the breed .’
The breed is ideal for those who want to get involved as Grits can be purchased at a far easier price range than if newcomers were
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trying to get into Texels .
Grits have been on an upward curve on numbers ever since it was announced they had slipped on to the Rare Breeds Survival Trust ’ s watchlist . John , who is head of commercial operations for a scholarly publishing company based in Bradford , put together the breed ’ s website .
The Derbyshire Gritstone originated , according to the society ’ s handbook , on the hills of the Dale of Goyt , today referred to as the Goyt Valley on the edge of the Peak District around 1770 . Known in its early days as Dale O ’ Goyt sheep it is thought it was developed by crossing the native Limestone sheep with the Whitefaced Woodland and then further
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improved by Merino rams imported from Spain by the Duke of Devonshire to be used by his tenants grazing in he High Peak area from 1810 . By 1850 farmer breeders were establishing uniformity in the breed aiming for a hardy , disease resistant animal that could withstand harsh winters on poor ground and produce a lively lamb . The Derbyshire Gritstone Sheepbreeders Society was formed in 1906 .
‘ We ’ re part of the Derbyshire Gritstone Sheepbreeders Society . The breed has had some lean times but it ’ s on the up at the moment . When we started they were in fashion and today they are in the best shape I feel they have ever been . The Grits born in
74900 - Keith Drake Ltd - 16th . pdf 1 21 / 08 / 2018 12:06:07
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