THE British Alpaca Society (BAS) is to hold its first North-West Championship Show in the spring.

It takes place at the Borderway Exhibition Centre, Carlisle, on Saturday, April 6, and is specifically timed for when the animals’ spring fleeces are at their most impressive.

The UK alpaca industry has grown enormously in recent years, reflecting the quality of the animals and prices they command – average prices of £8,000 are not uncommon in the ring.

Barbara Hetherington, from Breck Brow Alpacas, is one of three leading breeders organising the event for which entries close on March 6. She said: “Most alpaca shows in the North of England take place in the summer as part of the agricultural show season, but this means that fleeces are too long because shearing is overdue, or too short because they have already been shorn.

“We, therefore, took the decision to hold a standalone show at the time of year when alpaca fleece is at its best, and as spring is the optimum time for showing, we are expecting entries from throughout the UK.”

The three breeders organising the event, which will be hosted by Harrison & Hetherington, are: Cumbrian-based Barbara and Paul Hetherington who began the Brow Beck herd on their 50-acre farm in 2008; Michael and Judith Henderson, who have a smallholding on the edge of the Trough of Bowland; and Mary Tolit and Mike Griffith, of Greenside Alpacas, near Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, who have grown from four animals in 2002 to today’s herd of 100.