Last updated 21:28, Thursday, 29 May 2008

FARMERS from across Cumbria took part in the Keswick Herdwick Ram Show.

Thirlmere man David Bland, 58, of Westhead, won the show’s top prize, the Edmundson Cup.

Mr Bland said: “It’s a big honour to win this trophy. I’ve won it once before in the mid-90s and this just brings it all back.

“The competition is an important family occasion that I’ve been going to for 50 years. If you’re a hill farmer it’s just sort of bred in you.”

The show began in 1849. This year’s organiser, Willie Tyson, said: “Numbers have dwindled a bit since the foot and mouth outbreak but we’re getting back to the numbers we’re used to now.”

Billy Wilson, 93, made his 92nd appearance at the event. Billy was said to have dominated the competition in the 1930s and 1940s.