Farmers share fond memories as Shrewsbury Auction Centre celebrates 20 years with a bumper sale

Farmers from across Shropshire and the surrounding counties gathered at Shrewsbury Auction Centre this week as it celebrated 20 years.

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The anniversary of the livestock market opening at Battlefield was also celebrated fittingly on Tuesday (April 7) with what the auctioneer said was “possibly the busiest ever day of livestock sales at the site”.

A total of 2,539 sheep and nearly 700 cattle from across Shropshire and bordering counties were sold at the anniversary market which supported the Lingen Davies Cancer Support charity.

Over 20 years the auction centre has sold around 2.5 million sheep and 375,000 cattle for farmers across Shropshire and surrounding counties.

There has been a livestock market in Shrewsbury since 1850 when it was first established at The Riverside, Smithfield Road in the town. The market later moved to Harlescott in 1959 - the dairy section opened three years earlier - and the new market opened in 2006.

“It was a phenomenal day and I would like to thank all the farmers, buyers and staff for their support,” said Jonny Dymond, who manages the auction centre for Halls, the multi-disciplined business which has its headquarters next to the market.

Besides selling livestock and machinery, Shrewsbury Auction Centre also plays a valuable social role as a friendly place for farmers, who sometimes feel isolated and work long hours, to meet up and discuss the state of the farming industry.

Farmers Alan Tomlinson from Cheshire and Vivian Chidley from Snailbeach, near Shrewsbury, remember attending both the Riverside and Harlescott markets with their fathers.

“My family has always supported Shrewsbury Livestock Market,” said Vivian. “Halls have good, honest and straightforward auctioneers, like Allen Gittins [company chairman] and James Evans [director] who are outstanding and I used to deal with former chairman Peter Willcock.

“My dad, Ivor, was an Express Dairy lorry driver who started keeping a few pigs and I remember going to the old market in Smithfield Road to buy pigs.

“When the market moved to Harlescott, dad used to sell a lot of pigs through auctioneer John Davies. My brother Vincent and I now keep 90 ewes and a few suckler cattle and my late brother Roger’s family farm at Stiperstones.”

Alan also has fond memories of attending the old markets with his father as a child and in his own right as a farmer. He has remained loyal to Halls and regularly attends the weekly Tuesday market.

“The market is doing well and will continue to go forward,” he said. “Halls bought enough land to double the size of Shrewsbury Auction Centre in the future. Well done to the company for their vision.”

Over the past two decades, Halls has welcomed many thousands of people through its gates and built lasting relationships along the way - but it has not been all plain sailing.

“The farming industry has faced many challenges - from TB and foot-and-mouth to bluetongue - each test reminding us of the strength and resilience within our farming community,” said Allen Gittins, who followed in the footsteps of his late father, Tom, by becoming Halls chairman.

“Time and again, that resilience has seen us pull together and move forward. We also remember the difficult days of the Covid outbreak, when we sadly lost some valued and much-respected members of our market family.

“It was truly an honour to have known and worked alongside them and they remain a a cherished part of our story.

“As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the livestock market on its current site, we look ahead with optimism to new opportunities, lessons learned, unexpected adventures and the people who make the journey worthwhile.

“May the years ahead bring continued growth, good health, memorable moments and plenty of reasons to smile. Thank you to everyone who has been part of the story so far.”

At Tuesday’s sale, dairy cattle sold to £3,100 and this section included the dispersal of 31 Holstein Friesians for C Wheeler & Son, The Purshall Green Farm, Rushock, Droitwich. The £3,000 barrier was broken four times in the sale.

A record entry of nearly 400 weanlings peaked a £2,550 for a bull and £2,220 for a heifer and 2,100 hoggets sold to £229. Top prices in the other sections were £820 for calves, £2,298 for barren cows, £435 for ewes and lambs and £195 for spring lambs.