Lennies lift top awards at Sanday Show

Malcolm and Angela Lennie of Seaview, swept the board at this year’s Sanday Show winning both the Champion Sheep and Champion Cattle prizes and then the Best Animal in the Showyard.
The main award went to the best in cattle section, a home-bred heifer calf, end of April born and out of a three-quarter Belgium Blue by a Limousin sire, Dyke Elite.
Their prize-winning sheep was a Texel gimmer bought at a ram sale in Kirkwall from Keith Hourston from Orphir, and being shown for the first time.
It was the fifth year in a row that the Lennies had won both cattle and sheep classes. They also took reserve in the cattle section with a stock calf.
The reserve in the sheep section was a home bred Suffolk ram lamb owned by Ian Brown of Millbrae.
An elated Malcolm Lennie told The Orcadian as the show ended: “I am absolutely delighted to have done so well again. But I wont have time to take it all in. We have the prize-giving tonight and tomorrow I am judging Suffolk and Cross bred sheep at the East Mainland Show. I aim now to show this calf at the County Show next Saturday. That will be a different day and a different standard, but we will see what happens.”
For the third year in a row the Muir family won best overall in the horses section – this time it was the turn of mum, Kristen, riding the 9-year-old gelding Gem’s Diamond Joe (Joey). Judge Christine Flett of Dounby placed the 14-hand-high cob just ahead of the reserve champion, a 16.2 hands thoroughbred-cross Blackton’s Tia Maria ridden by Sarah Sinclair.
A German-Malumet-cross bitch called Poopa – bred and owned by Rob Scott from Lady Village – won the top dog award. Poopa had worked her way up the show rankings taking the Best Puppy Prize in 2014 and Best Groomed and Best In Class prizes last year.
The top prize in the poultry section went to Raymond Brown with a Scot’s Grey Bantam hen which he bought at a rare breed sale in Dingwall. Reserve champion was 15-year-old Dunstan Clackson with a goose gosling.
The Industrial section also proved a great success – and attracted large crowds – although, like elsewhere in the show, entries were down this year. The overall best exhibit – a unanimous choice by the six judges – was a beautiful hand made shawl by Julia Murray.
As volunteers started to take down the tents around the showground, Sanday Show President James Muir, of Drummonds, told us: “Everything went really well and the weather and the quality of stock both turned out to be excellent. I’m sure all of the exhibitors who took part will be more than happy.
“Entries were down, most notably in the cattle section, and we are going to have to try harder over the next year to encourage some of the bigger farms on the islands to return to competing. Once you stop it is harder to get started again.”