LANGLEY Blackface breeder Harry Morshead was delighted to take home two lots of silverware to Harsondale Farm after doing the double at Saturday’s Roman Wall Show.

And it was fitting that part of the credit for his win was down to Twicey Show ‘host’, Harry’s father-in-law, John Pattinson of Hotbank Farm.

It’s just two years since Harry took on the tenancy of Harsondale with his wife, Louise, John’s daughter, and this was only their second crop of lambs and first time showing.

So to take home the cup for the hotly-contested Blackface Champion was a real coup.

The pure Blackface ewe lamb, that also won best female, was mothered by a draft ewe Harry bought last year from Hexham Mart.

“But the father was a tup lamb loaned from my father-in-law, who farms at Hotbank, home to the Roman Wall Show.

“It’s coming up for sale this year as a shearling at Hexham’s October sales.”

It’s a decade since the Blackface Champion cup has gone to the Morsheads.

“As a family we have won it before,” said Harry. “We won it in 2008, albeit on this occasion it was my mother, Annabelle, who won it.”

Harry left his mother and uncle’s farm, Nilston Rigg, in 2013 to work with YoungsRPS as a rural chartered surveyor in Hexham. He and Louise have two daughters, Florence, two, and Esme, five months.

“So with the full-time job and two young kids there’s quite a lot on,” Harry said.

Harry said he was delighted with Saturday’s win. “We’re very pleased and frankly very surprised, I wasn’t expecting it.

“Like everyone, we found lambing a lot more work than normal this spring, making sure everything was under shelter at the right times.”

However, he has yet to get his hands on the silverware.

“Florence grabbed a hold of the best female cup and thought it was hers,” he laughed.