Princess helps mark milestone anniversary at Lanark market
Princess Anne, a farmer herself and patron of nearly 50 countryside organisations, was welcomed to Lanark mart by chairman Brian Dickie and managing director Hamish McCall, along with deputy lord-lieutenant of Lanarkshire Gavin Whitefield.
She toured the mart and met several auctioneers and staff, before unveiling a 150-year anniversary plaque.
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Hide AdMr McCall thanked her for “helping us to mark this huge milestone”.
“We enormously appreciate her support for both livestock auctioneering and agriculture more widely,” he said.
“Farming and livestock sales are a crucial part of so many people’s lives.
“From family heritage through to skills and the local economy, the sector represents a major part of both our history and our future.
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Hide Ad“We are very proud of what has been achieved over the last 150 years and look forward to many more years ahead.”
Lawrie and Symington has been trading since 1867 and draws farmers from across the UK and Europe to its sales.
Annually, around 20,000 cattle and 200,000 sheep are sold at Lanark, and a further 7,000 head of cattle and 55,000 sheep in the Forfar mart outside Dundee.
Among those meeting the Princess Royal was Peter Campbell, a 26-year-old trainee auctioneer at Lawrie & Symington.
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Hide AdLooking back on the day he said: “Auctioneering has been at the centre of Scottish farming for years.
“Although a lot is changing in farming and agriculture at the moment there is a lot to be positive about.
“Auctioneering is a great industry to work in with no two days being the same.”