The Farmers Mart Jun-Jul 2019 - Issue 63 | Page 42

42 BLEAK BANK FARM
Getting the balance of milk production and
cow longevity is one of the areas John is keen
to improve.
‘I like milking dairy cows and think we can
throttle back a little on production and breed
a cow that lasts longer and doesn’t need as
much input feed or vet-wise. I’d like our cows
to last another five years averaging an age
of around 15-16 and still producing the same
amount of 7500-8000 litres. We’ve just started
dipping our little toe into Dairy Shorthorns this
year.’
John’s famed humour comes through once
again when talking Dalesbred sheep of which
they have a flock of between 450-500 breed-
ing ewes.
‘Dalesbred are like any other breed, only
ever so slightly totally superior. We breed half
of them pure to maintain the pedigree flock
and cross the other half with the Teeswater
tup to produce our cash crop the Masham
with lambing taking place from the end of
JUN/JUL 2019 • farmers-mart.co.uk
March with a September market for the gim-
mers and the boys sold in the autumn through
to the new year at 42-44 kilos in Bentham
Mart.’
‘All roads lead to Bentham for any sheep or
dairy cows and calves we sell. It’s a cracking
livestock mart run by Stephen Dennis and I’m
sure loads of others would love to be as busy.
The gimmers are sold for breeding through-
out the country as far as Norfolk, Cornwall,
Cumbria and Wales and the boys as butchers
lambs.’
After a decline in the commercial appeal of
the Masham due to the rise of the Mule there
have been encouraging signs in more recent
times especially with fleece prices adding to
their renaissance.
‘The Masham produces a good staple and
crop of wool and in the past few years its
wool has become more sought after with
fleeces attracting around £15-£18 where at
one time it was negligible. The Masham’s rep-
‘
The Masham produces
a good staple and crop
of wool and in the past
few years its wool has
become more sought after
with fleeces attracting
around £15-£18
’
utation for being long living and hard working
now adds to that fleece value and still does
what it has to do as a butchers lamb perfectly
well. There’s nothing wrong with the Mule and
now the Dalesbred Mule, but we are now see-
ing the Masham market starting to grow again
after many years in the doldrums.’
Dalesbred sheep were of course closely
associated with the Swaledale until the 1920s.
William, who studied at Settle College, be-
lieves the Dalesbred’s recent revival is down
to the society providing a better animal.
‘It has changed a lot recently. It has become
a lot taller with less wool about it and it is
stronger. That has all been a conscious move
by the Dalesbred society and it has come on
a long way.’
William judged at this year’s Otley Show
and at Gargrave last year. John has been
chairman of the Masham and Teeswater
breed societies and is a member of the
Dalesbred committee. The cows and sheep
at Bleak Bank can be traced back to the same
bloodlines as the 1800s.
John has featured lately in the TV pro-
gramme The Yorkshire Dales and The Lakes
but it is his family’s past that captures his
heart more so than his media image.
‘I’ve written a book using the notes left
by my dad and Uncle Bill about living and
working on the farm from being lads in the
1930s to the 1960s. We really can’t complain