Hooray - back on the forum after hours of failed attempts yesterday (talktalk server problem). I am no expert but from the perspective of a buyer I thought some of the reserve prices at the BPA Sale at Stoneleigh were rather high. There were two Tamworth in-pig gilts, and the one which had won the overall Tamworth champion prize the day before reached its reserve price of, I believe, £330, but on the other bidding stopped well below this. The day before going to Stoneleigh I had been to look at another potential proven, pedigree Tamworth sow, which I could have bought for £250, in pig (hopefully) after weaning her current litter. Quite a lot less than the Stoneleigh reserve price. Probably not as good as Bill Howe's show quality pigs, but a nice pig all the same. In the class I was interested in the BPA sale, there were 6 Tamworth maiden gilts, 5 x Melody and 1 x Jacqueline, all about 8 months. I was in such a tizz about having to bid at all I am not entirely sure what happened to the others, but I believe one sold at around £200 and on the others bidding stopped at £180-£190 which was insufficient. The beautiful Melody gilt I was bidding for had won 2nd place in her class the day before, in her first ever show, and had a reserve price of £220 which I was prepared to pay despite being £20 above my intended limit of £200, but her litter sister who had won 1st place the day before was unsold when bidding stopped at £190. However, the owners offered me a very attractive reduction afterwards to take them both as they didn't want to take the one home on her own, and as a mate of mine down here in the south has also, like me, recently lost a Tamworth sow, I agreed and will hopefully be selling one of them on to him in 21 days time. I entirely agree with Liz Shankland that it must be awful having to take unsold pigs home again, but certainly in the Tamworth maiden gilt class, I got the impression that there was only about £10 in it between the top bid and reserve price, and possibly it might have been worth the sellers dropping their reserve price just a tiny bit, not a lot, to effect a sale. Perhaps they did afterwards, who knows. Anyway I am very happy with my purchase, and only wish I had the time and space and means (ie. feed costs) to keep both of them, not just the one. They look absolutely great together and have been scampering around their plot. Tamsaddle - hoping like mad this posting will make it, rather than being inexplicably obliterated by ********** talktalk, again.