Store lambs at St John’s Chapel Mart achieved a stronger average at the latest fortnightly sale, with 2,518 store lambs and feeding ewes presented on Saturday 3 October 2026. The overall average was £107.49, including 844 Swaledale lambs.
The average was £18.85 higher than at the equivalent sale last year, despite 312 more lambs being sold. The sale also welcomed four vendors attending St John’s Chapel for the first time.
Charity lamb raises £3,380
A Pure Texel lamb sold by D Fletcher and D Coates of Short Thorns raised £3,380 for Cancer Research UK, in memory of Colleen Emerson.
The lamb was bought and resold several times, with sales reported in the region of £200 to £280. Buyers included Aydan Bowers, Chris Wearmouth, Julie-Anne Peadon, Paul Heppel, Mickey Emerson, Lewis Stephenson, Harrison Collingwood, Mark Emerson, Paul Ferris, Ben Haigh, Drew Patrick and Brian Rogerson. George Slack made the final purchase at £300.
Texel, Suffolk and Cheviot lamb prices
The top price for well-bred lambs was £181 for a pair of lambs from T and D I Allen and Son of Chatterley. The same farm sold 12 strong Suffolk-cross lambs at £145, while its run of 71 averaged £138.92.
Other Texel-cross lambs reached £158 from I Collinson of Billing Shield and £151 from Messrs Humble of Allergill. Suffolk-cross lambs from Allen and Son topped at £145, while J Walshaw and Son of Dryderdale sold a pen of 10 at £144 and another pen of 29 at £140.
O Harrison of Aimshaugh topped the Cheviot section at £146, with further lambs from the same vendor selling at £133 and £127.
The sale report recorded a Texel-cross top of £181 from Chatterley Farm, a Cheviot top of £146 from Aimshaugh and a Suffolk-cross top of £145 from Chatterley Farm.
Swaledale and Mule lambs maintain strong trade
There were 844 Swaledale lambs in the sale, with the section topping at £90. That price was achieved by 11 lambs from J Archer of Whitehill and by lambs from R Collingwood of Stewart Shield. Archer also sold a further 38 lambs at £89.
Several vendors reached £88, including D J and J E Lumley of Nookton with 60 lambs, I Collinson of Billing Shield with 47, J R and C M Dalton of South Wellhope with 17, and J Archer with another pen of 23. In total, 617 of the 844 Swaledale lambs sold for £80 or more.
North of England Mules averaged £117.87 across 680 lambs. The section topped at £141 for 29 lambs from L M Hutchinson of Pease Myers, whose further lambs reached £136. M Mascall of Burnfoot sold a strong pen at £131, while J A and J D Robinson of Middle Farm sold 220 Mules, topping at £127 and selling a further 60 at £120.
Other notable Mule prices included £120 for 36 lambs from M F and K C Stobart of Grain O Beck, £123 for 81 from the Collingwoods of Ambling Gate and £125 for 40 from Stewart Shield.
Feeding ewes topped at £165 for a Texel cross from O Harrison of Aimshaugh. The sale report also listed a Cheviot Mule top of £126 from Randalholme, a Blackface top of £81 from Hawkwell Head and a Herdwick top of £80 from Redburn.
Next sales at St John’s Chapel
The next St John’s Chapel sale is the D District tup sale, featuring more than 300 Swaledale rams. It is scheduled for Tuesday 13 October and starts at 10.30am.
The next store sale is scheduled for Saturday 17 October and will include the show and sale of lambs for young handlers.
Further information is available from Harrison Collingwood on 07895 761102 or the Hexham office on 01434 605444.