Sunday 25^th August had been  marked on the calendar for Lleyn enthusiasts across the UK as the Walling Family of Farmstock Gentics opened their doors for the Scottish & Borders Lleyn Club Open Day. The respect and admiration for the quality of stock frequently brought forward by the Walling family could be seen with nearly 90 people gathering including a strong Welsh contingent..

Upon arriving at Over Whitlaw, visitors headed inside and had the chance to view the impressive shearling rams which will shortly be making their way to Society Sales at Stirling, Ruthin and Carlisle. Several ear tag numbers were taken by breeders for further examination come the sales.

Before heading out in trailers, Ian Walling welcomed all the visitors to Over Whitlaw giving a brief outline of the farm and system. Over Whitlaw is a 500 acre farm with an additional 200 acres rented. The farm is home to 900 breeding ewes as well as running a herd of 80 pedigree Saler cattle and 20 Beef Shorthorns. Ian said the farm runs a system focusing on breeding hardy and efficient stock, feeding minimal concentrates. The Lleyn flock consistently weans just short of their body weight in lambs each year.

With the rain holding off we then headed out to view the rest of the farm stock. First up was an exceptionally strong bunch of commercial tups destined for Kelso. Ian explained the rigorous selection process that he puts all his tups through, using both their physical attributes alongside how they perform in terms of growth and the performance of their mother. Ian explained that the aim is to sell 55 rams as Shearlings each year.

For the last couple of years the family has crossed 150 Lleyns with the Border Leicester rams to produce a Lleyn Halfbred. The cross bred ewe lambs have proved popular and sold well the previous year. Everyone admired the uniformity of the ewe lambs which would shortly be heading to the sale at St. Boswells. A cross to watch out for in the future!

Females from the Walling family have always attracted a great deal of interest at Society Sales and visitors to the Open Day were full of admiration for this year’s crop of Ewe Lambs which would shortly be heading to the Society Sales. The group displayed all the characteristics of the breed with exceptional skin quality and would be well worth a look for anyone wanting to purchase ewe lambs.

Another animal which attracted plenty of interest was the impressive Sauveur. Sauveur is the Saler bull which the family had imported from France the previous year. Ian explained that the Saler and Lleyn breeds had many similar attributes including the ability to perform off grass needing very little concentrates. We also got to see the Beef Shorthorn which has been performing very well in the sale ring.

The farm tour took us right up to the highest point on the farm some 1050 foot above sea level. The hats kindly provided by our hosts proved very popular with the weather closing in. We then headed back to the farm buildings to enjoy some delicious warm beef and lamb rolls kindly put on by the Wallings.

The stockjudging competition saw visitors place four classes of Ewes, Gimmers, Ewe Lambs and Ram Lambs. Massey Feeds had kindly donated prizes for this, with James Dugdale taking first place, narrowly ahead of Charles Geldard in 2^nd with Dylan Vaughan coming 3^rd.  

Charles Geldard proposed the vote of thanks to Ian, Tom and the whole team at Over Whitlaw for all the work that had gone into hosting such a great day. Charles said all the stock on show were a credit to the family and it was great to see the Lleyn ewe, not just surviving, but thriving in such an environment. He closed by reminding visitors of the Society forthcoming Society Sales, including Stirling on Saturday 21^st September and Carlisle on Friday 27^th September.