THE Common family’s crowning glory at Allendale Agricultural Show was 15 years in the making.

After starting to breed Texels in 2002, following the foot and mouth crisis, the Whitley Chapel crew were celebrating a first success when their home-bred shearling tup was named overall champion at the weekend.

The sheep was shown by 24-year-old Gemma, who said: “I have been first in a class before, but I’ve never taken the champion of the breed before, never mind overall champion. I was over the moon and in total shock!

“Winning the overall champion is what you always want to do, and we’ve eventually got there.”

The winning sheep had tough competition for the top accolade as it pipped the winning Bluefaced Leicester, shown by the Waltons at Penpeugh, Bardon Mill, which was named reserve overall.

Over in the equine section, there was a touching moment when four-year-old Luke Bisset hugged the judge for naming him supreme champion.

Riding his Welsh Section B show hunter pony Linksbury Olivia, the youngster was overwhelmed, having only started to ride earlier this year.

The resurgence of the industrial section at Allendale continued, and the tent was again bursting with copious entries across the categories.

And Gail Stephenson cleaned up as she added the top prize of most points in section to the trophy for most points in the home-baked category.

She said: “It’s brilliant to see the benches full and it’s really nice winning, especially the most points in section, as I’ve never won that before.”

Industrial secretary Kate Maughan was celebrating success in the Betty Common Cup for best embroidery entry. She finally completed her cross stitch of a dog seven years after starting it, and it proved worth the wait as it was chosen as the star exhibit.

Kane Pepper gained most points in the children’s class to win the 9-12 years trophy, with Alice Maughan and Wilfred Pugh sharing the title in the 5-8 years group.

Martha Pugh gained most points for children aged 0-4, and Morrin Conchie submitted the best entry in the category.

In the main arena, touring mountain bike stunt team Savage Skills impressed the crowd with twists and turns on two wheels.

The tug of war competition attracted attention, with a team from the King’s Head pub winning the adult contest.

However, they weren’t able to sustain their winning form, losing to a team made up of every participant in the junior competitions!