IT was over 30 years ago when I first started Yorkshire Farmer and then Farming in Yorkshire magazines as editor and publisher . At the time I had several writers who became good friends and one of those was farmer Lambert Coverdale of Beckwithshaw . It was Lambert who introduced me to the Zwartbles sheep breed that was just starting to have an impact back then .

I checked the records , just in case time had played tricks , and there it is . The Zwartbles breed emanating from the Friesland region of the Netherlands was first imported in the early 90s and the UK Zwartbles Sheep Association was formed in 1995 .

One of the foremost Yorkshirebased exponents of the breed today is Raymond Heigh of Brook House in Bentham who started with the breed in 2005 and has a flock of 25 today .

“ We started with them when we went out of milk ,” says Raymond . “ I ’ m the third generation here . My granddad was William Joel , my mum ’ s dad , and my dad is Robert Heigh . My mum Wendy sadly passed away last July . We had shown the cows and I wanted something that I could show and make something of . Their distinctive look of the white blaze and socks was something different .

The Zwartbles breed is now one of best represented breeds at the Great

Yorkshire Show where Raymond has twice had Reserve Breed Champion . He ’ s also had male champion and reserve champion at the Royal Highland with a shearling tup owned by himself and good friend and fellow breeder Martin Preston of Bingley .

“ The breed has certainly grown ,” says Raymond . “ When we had our national show at Harrogate we had 180 sheep there .

“ We had pedigree Holstein Friesians when we had the cows and we did some showing . Mum used to show Dairy Shorthorns . When I was 15-16 years of age I liked going showing dairy cows with the Butterfields . I ’ d go and help them , going all over , but it got to the stage where we were either going to have to get out or go bigger and spend a lot of money . It wasn ’ t going to be worth it .

Today , Brook House is a commercial cattle and sheep farm with Raymond ’ s Zwartbles , Dutch Spotted and Valais Blacknose sheep being an added interest . “ We farm across 150 acres and buy store cattle , over winter cattle for others and a commercial sheep flock . We buy store cattle at 9-11 months old , generally from one or two livestock marts during October and November , winter them and sell them at the end of the year at Bentham at around 19-20 months . They then go on to finishers . We buy Angus ,

Limmies , Blues and it doesn ’ t matter if they are heifers or bullocks so long as the cost fits and they are all suckler bred .

“ We used to buy about 40 stores , but we now buy about 20-25 because we now just take around 25 in for wintering and that seems to pay a bit better . We ’ ve just done that for the last couple of years . That way we get more manure , and we are getting an income from over wintering stock .

“ We have 200 commercial sheep which are generally Texel X or Suffolk X put to Beltex or Beltex X tups . I bought my last tup out of Skipton , but sometimes use Carlisle or Bentham . I have 5 tups and replace every time one dies . They will normally go for 3 or 4 seasons . The commercial ewes go to 4 shears . My principle is the younger they are the fitter they are .

“ We start lambing about the end of January and just into February for commercials and 1 January for my Zwartbles . The Spotties are changing to 1 January next year , which will be better for me , as I can lamb them all together . We lamb a few Texel X shearlings into March .

“ The commercials average around 150 per cent . When you lamb early you don ’ t get as many lambs . If I had my way I ’ d have all of the Zwartbles lambing singles to get bigger lambs . Raymond AI ’ s all of his Zwartbles . “ I have a stock tup of my own and share some with Martin Preston . I also share tups with Peter and Susan Addison of Middleton in Teesdale who have won once or twice at the Great Yorkshire with their Hayberries flock .

“ Buying together adds more buying power . I AI all 25 and hopefully they all hold . This year 23 out of 25 held and they mostly lamb within 7 days .

Proud to support Raymond Heigh of Brook House Farm , wishing him continued success .