A CENTURY of tup sales in a Teesdale village is being commemorated with a special exhibition.

The tradition of selling male sheep in Middleton-in-Teesdale dates back to October 1917 when farmers gathered for the first sale on land at Town End, thanks to M Richardson.

The information dates back to a press cutting, one of dozens along with old photographs and Swaledale flock books collated by Anne Scott, of The Upper Teesdale Agircultural Support Services (UTASS).

Mrs Scott said she started researching the topic about five months ago after discovering scrap books belonging to her mother, Sheila Wearmouth and auntie, Elsie Bell.

The sisters were born and bred in Harwood and Mrs Bell worked for for Upper Dale farmer Jack Foster for a time where she learnt about the trade.

Mrs Scott said the family scrap books dated back to the 1930s but it was only after consulting John Stephenson, of the Swaledale Sheep Breeders Association, that the pair discovered the tradition actually dated back 100 years.

Now Mrs Scott has collected more than 40 press cuttings, including those from The Northern Echo, and presented them alongside Swaledale flock books from 1920 and photographs at the UTASS office, in Chapel Row, Middleton-in-Teesdale.

She said: "There are so many different stories and Middleton was one of those sites that started off in a field for the first few years down at Town End and then moved to the Auction Mart.

"The tup sale was a big social event and in the archives from 1920 it describes a motor meeting participants from Lartington Station to get them to the sale."

The annual sales are still going strong at the auction mart today, with the exhibition set to move down the mart's cafe for this year's event on October 11.

It will then return to UTASS until Friday, October 20.

Mrs Scott said dozens of people had already been through the door to admire the exhibition, including retired farmers who once traded their own tups at the sale.

"The farmers who have been in have been really interested," Mrs Scott said. "I think one of the things that has been commented on is how much tups have changed over 100 years."

For more information visit utass.org or call 01833-641010.