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UK - Supreme championship double for Leeds butcher at Great Yorkshire competition

19 Oct 2010

Supreme championship double for Leeds butcher at Great Yorkshire competition

Bentley’s Butchers, of Robin Lane, Pudsey, landed a supreme championship double when taking top honours in both the pork pie and sausage classes at the 2010 Great Yorkshire Pork Pie, Sausage & Products Competition in Bradford. (Sun, Oct 16).

Bentley’s Steve Martin has been bidding for several years to win one of the supreme accolades. He was reserve supreme pie champion in 2008 and put this year’s remarkable double down to the efforts of his entire shop team.

The championship-winning pork pie, which had earlier been awarded first prize and the Interbake Shield in the small pork pie class, received the Ted Jones Supreme Pork Pie Trophy, presented  personally by Mr Jones, a retired butcher from Wadsley, Sheffield.

He his wife Margaret have been involved with the Great Yorkshire competition since 1988 and both again acted as judges this year. There was also a product donation from William Jones Packaging, of Cardiff.

Bentley’s Butchers first prize thick pork sausage, recipient of the Ripon Select Foods Shield, went on to be crowned supreme champion, receiving a new trophy and product donation presented by Towers Thomson, whose Yorkshire base is in Mexborough. There was also a further product donation by W R Wright & Sons, of Liverpool.

For good measure, Bentley’s finished runner-up in the black pudding class, with the shop also highly commended for entries in other show classes.

The reserve supreme pork pie championship fell to the first prize large pork pie from Woods Butchers, of Carcroft, Doncaster, which received the Willis Hall Cup for Pork Pie Excellence. The late Yorkshire playwright was a great fan of the competition, judging on a number of occasions.

Woods is no stranger to success in the content, being chosen as supreme pork pie champion in 2005, black puddings champion in 2006 and reserve supreme pie champion in 2007. At this year’s renewal, Woods was also third in the small pork pie class

The 2010 reserve supreme sausage championship, recipient of the Devro Quaich, was awarded to the first prize Oris Shield-winning thin pork sausage from defending champions H Hofmann & Sons Butchers, who have a total of five butchers and bakers’ shop in Wakefield town centre and Normanton.

The business has been taking part in the Great Yorkshire competition since its inception, winning numerous honours over the years, including the supreme champion sausage and pie titles in 2005 and 2006 respectively.

This year, Hofmanns also won the speciality sausage class and Gordon Rhodes Shield with its pork and leek sausage, as well as finishing runner-up in three further classes – small and large pork pies and thick sausage.

The black pudding championship fell to Wharfedale butchers George Middlemiss & Sons, of Otley, while the champion beef burger came from Paul Flintoft Butchers, of Kippax, Leeds, the 2009 reserve supreme sausage champion. Both classes were sponsored by W R Wright & Sons, the latter for the first time this year.

A ‘New Kid on the Block’ awards category introduced for first-time entrants fell to Howgate & Farrar Butchers in Woodlesford, Leeds, with their third prize thin pork sausage. This brand-new class, designed to encourage fresh blood to enter the competition, was sponsored by Cleveland-based moulds manufacturer Jon Nesbitt Engineering, of Liverton.

H Weatherhead & Sons Butchers, of Pateley Bridge, champion black pudding maker in 2009, this year won the speciality cold eating pie class and the John Spencer Memorial Trophy with its pork, stilton and cranberry pie, also taking the runners-up prize with a second entry.

Last year’s speciality sausage class winner, competition debutant Parkin Butchers, which has shops in Epworth, near Doncaster, and Crowle, just failed to pull off a repeat victory when runner-up in the same class with its pork and chive sausage. Ellisons Butchers, of Cullingworth, came third with its speciality Toulouse sausage.

Mirfield butcher Shaun Fairweather was awarded third prize in the large pork pie class, Arthur Haigh Butchers, of Thirsk, finished third in the black pudding class, Weegman’s Butchers, of Otley, came third in the speciality pie class, and Sutcliffes Butchers, of Skipton,  third in the thick pork sausage class.

Headingley Farm Butchers finished second in the beef burger class, the third prize falling to Sharlands Butchers, of Paddock, Huddersfield.

The competition, organised by the Confederation of Yorkshire Butchers Councils, was being held for the 22nd year. It attracted 300 entries from 50 butchers across the county.

Joining sponsors and product donators in presenting the trophies were Confederation of Yorkshire Butchers Councils’ president George Haigh, of Meltham, Holmfirth, and John Taylor, president of the National Federation of Meat & Food Traders.

Among the judges this year was the 2008 and 2009 Great Yorkshire supreme champion pie-maker, Andrew Voakes, of Voakes Pies, Whixley, York. Having achieved the top honour for two consecutive years, the rules of the competition dictated that he must sit it out this year.

Also highly commended as finalists at the 2010 competition were:  Small pork pie – Ged Bell, York, J A Mountfield & Sons, Selby, H Weatherhead & Sons, Pateley Bridge, B and M Collins & Sons, Cleckheaton, and P & I Hopkins, Birkenshaw. Large pork pie - J A Mountfield & Sons, S & T Family Butchers, South Elmsall, Ged Bell, George Middlemiss & Sons, Otley, and P & I Hopkins. Speciality pie – Woods, Carcroft, Bentley’s, Pudsey, Johnsons, Thirsk,  H Hofmann & Sons, Wakefield, and George Middlemiss & Sons.

Thick pork sausage – Howgate & Farrar, Woodlesford, Wilkinsons, Doncaster, George Middlemiss & Sons, Ellisons, Cullingworth, and Paul Flintoft, Kippax. Thin pork sausage – Bentley’s, Ellisons, H Weatherhead & Sons,  Paul Flintoft, Weeggmanns, Otley, and Sutcliffes, Skipton. Speciality sausage - H Weatherhead & Sons, J & M Rowlands, Goole, Paul Flintoft, and Thomas of Helmsley.

Beef burgers – Parkin, Epworth, J B Wilkinson & Sons, Rawdon, Weeggmanns, Sutcliffes, and Andrews, Wetherby,