This year the show took place on 18/19th September. Originally just known as the Newbury Show, this is one of my favourite shows so therefore, because there is now a Veteran class sponsored by Viki Mills I decided to take my seven year old sow for an outing. I arrived on the ground early Friday afternoon to find a few other exhibitors also unloading, so after putting my sow Meg into her pen I went for a wander to say ‘hello’. I have to say that Meg was very pleased to be at show again, having not shown her for two years she had realised on the Thursday that something was up when she was washed and smartened up, and on Friday morning gaily trotted up the ramp into the trailer, I am convinced she knew exactly what was happening! Friday evening was rounded off with a meal put on for all exhibitors in the Stockman’s marquee.

The judge this year on Saturday was well-known Large Black breeder Martin Snell. He judged all the different breed classes during the day. The results for the Berkshires are as follows:-

Female Pig born before 1 July 2009 –
1st Sharon Barnfield Kilcot Farewell
2nd Ron Fieldhouse Calcaria Royal Sapphire
3rd Sue Fildes Dittisham Lady

Female Pig born on or after 1 July 2009 –
1st Sharon Barnfield Kilcot Mermaid 4
2nd Sue Fildes Dittisham Lady 56
3rd Sarah & Paul Ashcroft Barlings Farewell 740

Pig (male or female) born 2009 –
1st Sarah & Paul Ashcroft Barlings Stonebow 806
2nd Sharon Barnfield Kilcot Excelsa
3rd Sarah & Paul Ashcroft Barlings Stonebow 804

Berkshire Champion Sharon Barnfield Kilcot Farewell
Reserve Champion Ron Fieldhouse Calcaria Royal Sapphire

Saturday evening found about 10 of us exhibitors making our way through the lanes to the Kings Head in Hermitage for a very good meal, and a bit of ‘craic’ as the Irish say!

Sunday dawned bright and sunny tho’ colder than Saturday. The judge for the day was Viki Mills. Her first task was the Interbreed Championship, this was duly won by a very nice Saddleback sow owned and bred by Andy Gready, with the reserve going to a GOS sow belong to Mr S James.
Next was for our breed the most important class of the day, the Berkshire Champion of Champions, bringing together eleven class winners from 2010 shows around the country.

This was a difficult class to judge but eventually Viki whittled down the numbers, and the final result was Champion Barlings Freight Train 651 with the Reserve going to Barlings Lassetter 706, both these boars are owned and bred by Sarah & Paul Ashcroft, so this was a real feather in their caps and many congratulations to them on their success. Viki stressed the point that it is sometimes harder to breed a really good boar than a sow.

The Jo Clarke Memorial Challenge Trophy was as usual presented by Jo Clarke’s daughter Sarah, with a salver going to the reserve, together with an engraved
momento for the breeders. Prize money for this class is very kindly donated by the PG Wodehouse Society which was represented by their Chairman Hilary Bruce and we are very grateful for their continued sponsorship and for promoting the breed.

After judging the GOS, Tamworth and Oxford Sandy & Blacks, the afternoon’s judging started with the Veteran Pig Class –

1st Jo Wykes-Sneyd Kilcot Mermaid
2nd Sharon Barnfield Kilcot Farewell
3rd Heather Royal Longash Alison 10 (Oxford Sandy & Black)

I was delighted to win this class, Meg has done me proud over the years since I bought her as an 8 week old weaner, and has won all her classes and several

Championships, so this was a fitting end for me to the show season.

I would like to make a mention here about the Berkshire sow and cross-bred litter that our newly-elected Vice Chairman Ron Fieldhouse bought to the show, all the way from Yorkshire. He was keen to show breeders that there is a market out there for cross-bred litters, which when using a LW boar always turn out white, and are highly sort after by butchers, and he suggests that if you are finding it difficult to make money from pure-bred litters, why not try crossing now and again ?

The final extra event of the afternoon put on for the enjoyment of the crowd watching around the ring was the ‘Guido Lassellis’ look-alike competition. About 30 years ago in England there was an Italian breeder of the above name, who was so small in stature that when he showed his Landrace/Large White pigs he could hardly see over the top of them, which made for a very amusing sight as he crept around the show ring, but he was also well-known for his Italian accent asking the judge to “please looook at my peeeg”. This class caused much hilarity amongst both the exhibitors trying to crouch down next to the pig they were showing and speak in an Italian accent and the watching crowd. Excellent commentary was given by Nick Hunkin, and the class judged by Viki Mills was won by New Zealand Berkshire breeder Pierre le Bas.

Many thanks to both Viki Mills and Martin Snell for judging the classes, and we hope they enjoyed their days. We are always allowed to load up reasonably early on the Sunday, and by 4 o’clock I was on my way back to Suffolk. This is such a friendly show and a good end to the season, so it would be great to see a few more exhibitors there in 2011. Jo Wykes-Sneyd

Jo Wykes-Sneyd
jo@berkshirepigs.org.uk