Snotterton Victory - a Great North-East Bull

A fascinating archive that captures a snapshot of farming life in the North East and the world of agricultural shows after the Second World War is to be auctioned at Tennants Auctioneers in Leyburn, North Yorkshire on 4th August.

The archive relates to William E Walls, a farmer from Howden Hall, Durham Road, Stockton and his prize winning Dairy Shorthorns including the bulls Snotterton Victory and Snotterton Gambler. Walls was a well-known breeder and shower of Dairy Shorthorns, a breed native to County Durham. He was a member and regional representative of the Shorthorn Society and Council, as well as being a well-regarded cattle judge.

His top prize bull was Snotterton Victory, who had been bred by Messrs J & J S Thompson of Snotterton Hall, Darlington. Calved in 1943 by Keepsakes Gift out of Snotterton Primrose 54th, Snotterton Victory won numerous medals, including Supreme Champion at the Royal Show in Oxford in 1950.

In addition to medals and other prizes, the archive includes farming magazines and newspapers, photographs and show programmes, all featuring Walls and his bulls, as well as a painting of Snotterton Victory himself, his nose ring, and a breed directory.

Also included is a rare copy of ‘Thomas Bates and the Kirklevington Shorthorns, Pure Durham Cattle’, by C.J Bates. Thomas Bates was one of Britain’s premier cattle breeders; born in Matfen, Northumberland in 1775, he established the Shorthorn breed after he set out to improve livestock by careful line breeding. He bred Shorthorns for their heavy milking capacity and consistency of type from his land in South Tyneside and latterly Kirklevington, Yarm.

The archive will be sold as one lot, with an estimate of £300-500 (plus buyer’s premium), alongside over one hundred lots of Beswick and Border Fine Art.