A HOME-BRED shearling gimmer from Kirkby Stephen breeders Kevin and Rachel Buckle won the 25th anniversary Beltex Premier show sale at Carlisle – and sold for 5,000gns in the following sale.

Buckles Watercress – sired by Broxty Supreme, a homebred ram, out of an imported ewe which has won twice at the Great Yorkshire Show – was bought by Andrew Wood, of Preston.

Mr and Mrs Buckle, of Buckles Farm, Barass, farm with their two sons, Jack, 19, and Tom, 15. Earlier this year, they became the first English breeders to win the supreme Beltex champion at the Royal Highland Show with their home-bred gimmer shearling Broxty Wispa.

They have bred pedigree Beltex since their first importation from Belgium after foot-and-mouth in 2001.

Previously this year, Watercress won her class at the Cumberland Show and was second at the Great Yorkshire.

There were more than 1,400 Beltex at Carlisle and the Buckle family had more successes. In the shearling ram section they sold Plumtree Wonderful, by Ardstewart Super Mario out of Whatmore Ruby, for 7,500gns to Tony Sayer.

They then sold Buckles Absolute, a ram lamb again by Mario out of Woodies Natasha, for 4,500gns in a two-way split to Tony Sayer and Messrs Armistead.

Averages: 675 shearling rams £931.02; six aged rams £1254.75; 191 ram lambs £1090.87; 250 shearling ewes £705.60 (Harrison and Hetherington).