LOVE Lamb Week has returned for the eighth year.

The seven-day long campaign (September 1-7) takes annually to celebrate British lamb.

The national campaign was founded by former Northumberland sheep farmer the late Rachel Lumley in 2015 in response to falling lamb consumption and depressed lamb prices.

Rachel, formerly of Blanchland, recognised that a strategically planned promotion was needed to encourage people to put British lamb back on their dinner plates.

The campaign has since grown in popularity and is widely supported across the sector.

Mother of one Rachel, 37, died suddenly at the Cumberland Infirmary in July 2020.

“We are delighted to be supporting Love Lamb Week for an eighth year", said Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) head of marketing Carrie McDermid. "It provides us all with the opportunity to celebrate UK lamb, a family favourite due to its superior taste and quality, and shine a light on our world-class food and farming standards.

“This campaign is about championing the hard work of our sheep farmers, who produce delicious lamb, while also maintaining the country’s unique landscape.”

Rachel was a well-known figure across the Tyne Valley farming circuit as a member of Northumberland Young Farmers and Whitley Chapel Young Farmers' Club for almost a decade. She was also a Northumberland County Show chief shearing steward.

Rachel, who lived in Penrith with partner John, also represented England at the World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships, and in the same year she attracted national attention with Love Lamb Week, she was appointed secretary of the English Shearing Circuit.

After her death, Rachel was announced as the posthumous winner of the George Hedley Memorial Award for her contribution to the sector by the National Sheep Association (NSA).

She was laid to rest at Ladys Wood House in Penrith.