CULTURE AND NATURE: THE EUROPEAN HERITAGE OF FARMING AND PASTORAL LIFE

RESEARCH THEME: THE LIFE OF AND SHEEP FARMERS

RESEARCH REPORT FOR THE UK

By Gemma Bell and Simon Bell

Estonian University of Life Sciences

November 2011

The CANEPAL project is co-funded by the European Commission, Directorate General Education and Culture, CULTURE 2007-2013.Project no: 508090-CU-1-2010-1-HU-CULTURE-VOL11

This report reflects the authors’ view and the Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein 1. INTRODUCTION

Since the agricultural revolution, the reorganisation of land use patterns, the Highland clearances (when most people in the Scottish Highlands were removed from the land and replaced by sheep flocks) has become a branch of “normal” farming with resident farmers and employed shepherds. Since the land used for sheep farming is normally spatially connected to the farmstead and since also the sheep breeds are hardy and stay outside all year round there is no need to move them long distances to summer pastures or for shepherds to tend them and stay away from home. Thus the kind of activities and the life of shepherds found in some European countries have no place in Britain. However, that is not to say that the life of a sheep farmer is easy and that it may not be a solitary and lonely occupation set in a remote hill region.

Sheep farming in the UK can be divided generally between upland and lowland activities. Upland farmers normally breed sheep and sell the lambs to lowland farmers for “finishing”, that is fattened up to the optimum weight for slaughter. Lowland farmers may also have their own flocks of different breeds. Upland farmers usually have a mixture of enclosed fields of pasture, meadow or arable land (so- called “inbye”) with a larger area or moorland, mountain or fell upon which the sheep graze year round, being brought into the inbye for mating, lambing, weaning, shearing, dipping and other routine activities. These together with regular checking of the flocks to see that they are alright and that no sheep-stealing has taken place or deaths occurred and so on are the activities that define the sheep farmer and ’s year and they also require the gathering, counting, checking of the flock in from the moor, fell or mountain, a time consuming activity that requires fitness, tolerance of often appalling weather such as driving rain or snow or heat and flies and the use of sheep dogs and quad bikes.

Sheep farming is a solitary rather than a communal activity and the opportunities for a social life and to share stories, to catch up on events and to be involved in activities together with other sheep farmers range from going to the local pub on an evening (if there is one) or weekend, attending national, regional or local agricultural shows or events held by sheep breeding societies and, for the younger generation, participating in Young Farmers’ Clubs.

2. The sheep farmer’s year

In the uplands of Britain lambing should be in the spring to avoid the worst weather so the cycle of the sheep farmer’s year can be summarised in this way (an example for the Herdwick sheep from the Lake District)

• Tups loosed with the ewes on the inbye (valley bottom land) in late November. • Around Christmas ewes returned to the fell, where they stay probably without additional feed until April.

• April-May: ewes lamb on the inbye. Ewes with single lambs put to the fell in May. Ewes with twin lambs kept on the inbye until after clipping time.

• July- August: all sheep clipped, starting with the geld sheep : i.e. sheep without lambs.

• September: lambs weaned from their mothers. Ewes returned to the fell if they remain fit for the purpose where they wait for tup time to come again. If they are too old to return to the fell they are either retained on the low ground of the farm for further breeding with a crossing tup (often a Texel, Suffolk or perhaps a Cheviot) or they are sold as draft ewes to lowland farmers for the same purpose.

• October: wether (castrated male) lambs are either sold ‘store’ to lowland farmers to fatten or are sometimes fed on their own farms to fatten sometime before their first birthday.

• November: gimmer (ewe) lambs -the female breeding stock of the future- are sent away to winter on lowland farms. They return to their home farms and are put to the fell in the spring to find the ‘heaf’ where they suckled their mothers as lambs and where they are now ‘heafed’ and will in turn rear their own lambs.

The last aspect may not take place in other areas where the gimmers go out for the winter along with the rest of the flock.

2.1 Mating (Tupping)

Each farm will have a number of rams or tups which live on the inbye all year round and may run with the wethers (castrated male lams). In November the sheep are brought in for tupping. In order to be sure which ewes have been mated and which not the rams may be fitted with a special harness which has a dye block attached to it to mark the rumps of the ewes. Once this task has been accomplished the ewes can go back out on the moor or fell.

Nowadays it is possible and common to use ultrasound scanning to test if a ewe is pregnant and if she has a single foetus, twins or even triplets so that the ewes can be treated separately if necessary, especially when it comes near lambing time, for instance if ewes with twins need extra feed supplements to keep them healthy. This scanning is a valuable tool for helping the farmer predict his likely lambing success and also for planning feed requirements.

Some farmers are keen breeders of their specific breeds and can make extra income from breeding high quality rams to sell to other farmers to keep the breed quality high, so ram or tup sales are held each year for this purpose and a good ram can fetch a high price.

A Swaledale ram with the characteristic curly horns ready to mate with the ewes

2.2 Overwintering

While the hardy hefted hill sheep live out on the moor, fell or mountain all winter, they need to be checked and possibly given hay to supplement their diet, depending on the availability of food supplies on the hill. In the more severe winter weather sheep may be trapped in snowdrifts or by deep snow so they must be checked and given extra food rations. This is potentially hard work taking hay out to them, possibly also some other feed supplement. Nowadays 4x4 vehicles in general and quad bikes in particular are essential for reaching these places and delivering food. They have made the life of a shepherd significantly easier.

Swaledale sheep in the snow on the North Yoork Moors after being fed with hay to supplement their diet. 2.3 Lambing

Once spring comes the sheep are ready to lamb and must be brought down from the hills and separated into those in lamb and those not. While it is normal for lambing to take place outdoors in a field, if the spring is especially wet and cold this can lead to too many deaths of the new lambs so bringing the ewes indoors into a lambing shed can help. The farmer must make regular rounds and may need to help a ewe to lamb, especially if she is a hogg – a year old ewe in lamb for the first time. This can be an especially tiring time for the farmer or shepherd as the ewes may give birth at any time of day or night. Sometimes the baby lambs can be attacked by crows and their eyes pecked out so this must also be avoided.

In lamb ewes (Swaledale and Cheviot) being fed a supplement before lambing in the late winter-early spring

Lambing time in the Lake District, in late April when the leaves are already on the trees and the grass is growing

A herdwick ewe with a single lamb – note the black colour to start with.

Once the lambs are big enough and the lower fields must be allowed to grow grass for hay or to recover the pasture the flock is turned out onto the moor or fell. The lambs soon develop and can keep up with their mothers although they can be prone to pests such as ticks which will need preventative treatment

2.4 Shearing

The next big task of the summer is sheep shearing, when the heavy fleece is clipped from the sheep. In order to gather them in again for shearing (and for any other reason) it is common to use sheepdogs, the Border collie being one of the preferred breeds for this, used singly or in pairs. These are highly trained and can be given instructions either by voice or by whistles (which carry over longer distances. This means that the shsepherd need not walk so far to round up sheep scattered widely across an expanse of moor land.

Working a sheepdog on the North Yoork Moors, sending him out to get round a small group and then herd them towards the shepherd(ess).

Shearing used to be carried out by hand using a design of shears that dates back to Roman times or before. Nowadays electric shearing machines are used which are much quicker. For shearing the sheep may be brought down into the farm yard and may be kept under cover overnight if it is a rainy period to ensure that the fleeces are kept dry when clipped. Alternatively they may be collected into a fold or special set of pens out on the moor or hill where they are clipped. If this is the case a special mobile shearing trailer may be used which has a platform, the machines are mounted on it and the sheep fed to the shearers via a set of gates. The shearing machines are driven by power from a tractor or Land rover. The fleeces are wrapped a special way, with the outside in and the tail pieces twisted to wrap and hold the rolled up fleece together. Traditionally the fleeces are packed into a large sack which is stitched up and sent off to the wool marketing board (Such wool sacks were a symbol of the country’s wealth in mediaeval times and the senior government ministers in the House of Lords still sit on wool sacks to this day).

Hand clipping remains in use and in small organic flocks such as in Shetland it is still practiced.

Hand shearing a Shetland sheep using shears whose design goes back to Roman times

Three young shepherdesses from the North York Moors, their sheep, sheep dogs and clipping trailer ready to start shearing: note the ramp leading to the back of the trailer so that each shearer can pick the next sheep quickly after finishing clipping each one. Two can shear while one feeds sheep in and wraps the fleeces.

Clipping in progress, two at a time; note the sheep patiently waiting its turn to be clipped. The trailer provides a flat, dry surface for shearing.

Many years ago shearing took place using special wooden frames which raised the sheep off the floor and made it lie in a way easy for the shearer to work. These are no longer used.

A packed woolsack

2.4 Weaning, dipping and other summer tasks

Later in the summer the sheep are brought down from the moor or fell so that the lambs can be weaned (taken from their mothers). This usually involves keeping the weaned lambs separate from the ewes for a period until they forget them. The sheep and lambs are also dipped, usually after shearing, against scrapis, ticks and blowfly and the lambs are tagged, worked and marked with the farmer’s own unique mark, usually a patch of colour placed on a certain part of the sheep. This used ot be a red colour and the substance used was called rudd or reddle but nowadays can be any colour. This enables sheep belonging to a neighbour but gathered together with the farmer’s own to be separated and sent back out on the hill. If the sheep is of a horned variety it is usual to mark the horn with a unique symbol by branding it. This means that if a sheep has lost its fleece and the ear tag has been pulled off its owner can still be identified – also useful in cases of sheep stealing, although the robbers may try to brand over the original mark.

Dipping requires a dipping pen and a dipping tank into which the sheep are immersed for a few seconds. It is not pleasant work and the chemicals used in the past were rather toxic.

Horn burning to brand the ownership mark onto the horn of a hogg

2.5 Fattening and selling the lambs

At weaning the ram lambs are castrated, usually using a rubber ring placed around the testicles which cuts of blood supply and causes them to wither away! These, now known as wethers, are also marked as such for ease of identification and separation for selling in the autumn for fattening. Lowland sheep farmers tend to lamb their ewes earlier and fatten the lambs sooner so that they reach the market ahead of the hill sheep progeny. The lambs for sale, including gimmer lambs not needed for breeding, are sent to an auction mart and sold to the lowland farmers who fatten them. The auction provides an opportunity for farmers to meet, catch up on news and get a feel for the market situation directly. It is always a nervous time to see what price will be achieved for the lambs into which so much work has been put and for which a profit is highly desirable!

3. Social and other activities

Intermingled with the relentless burden of the farm tasks there is some time for participating in activities which are more social in content. Activities which revolve around sheep include the national. Regional or local shows, sheep breeder activities and competitions and sheep dog trials.

3.1 Shows

Agricultural shows are popular events where a combination of demonstrations of the latest farm machinery and technology, competitions such as horse show jumping and animals breeds come together with home craft demonstrations and competitions. These can be national level, such as the Smithfield Show, the Royal Highland Show or the Royal Welsh Show, which have permanent show grounds and stands, regional or county shows such as the Great Yorkshire or Three County shows, also with permanent show grounds and which last for three or more days, and local shows which are set up for a couple of days and use temporary tents and marquees.

There are normally competitive sections for livestock breeders to show off their best animals in all varieties. Sheep breeders bring their best ewes and rams and compete against others who raise the same breeds. Judges are also breeders and represent the sheep breeding society, which keep the flock book, the register of quality ewes and rams. The sheep put on display are carefully prepared, washed and turned out to look their best. Competition is fierce and the animals are paraded round a show ring in full view of the public. Winning the competition at a high level can mean a high price when a prize ram is sold, so there is also a financial incentive for the top breeders.

Preparing a sheep for showing at the Great Yorkshire Show

A parade of sheep for judging: note that it is a family activity, with the small children dressed in the white coats worn by the handlers!

Another competition held at shows is sheep shearing. This is all about the speed as well as the quality of the shearer. Cups and other trophies are awarded to the best and fastest shearers.

Large crowds in the audience for the sheep shearing competition at the Great Yorkshire Show

Umpires keep a close eye on the competitors and a fleece wrapper is assigned to each. The event is sponsored by several organisations who contribute prizes.

3.2 Sheep sales

Every year there is a sheep sale related to each breed where farmers can buy and sell breeding ewes and rams. This is an intrinsic part of the breeder’s life and the life of the breed, ensuring that the quality of the animals remains high and according to the breed specification. In each breed region sales are held at the local auction mart and this also presents an opportunity for breeders to meet each other, often the only time that year.

Sheep for sale in pens, each a sale lot, at the annual Swaledale Sheep breeders’ Association sale in Hawes, North Yorkshire. These can be inspected before the sale.

The scene inside the auction, with the sellers and buyers able to see each lot of sheep moving around the ring

One lot of sheep being shown to potential buyers as the bidding takes place

3.3 Sheepdog trials

The sheepdogs which are an essential tool of the shepherd – really they are a partner – are bred to be natural herders and the skills of the shepherd in controlling the sheep are shown off at sheep dog trials which can be at a local level or at a national or even international level.

A sheepdog trial involves a shepherd guiding a small group of sheep around an obstacle course and into a pen, using either one or two dogs. Each group of sheep is used only once so they they do not get to know the course! Marks are awarded or deducted for various parts of the course and for mistakes such as if a sheep escapes or the sheep refuse to go into the pen or through an obstacle. Side vents at trials include competitions for carving or making shepherd’s crooks.

The scene at the Ryedale sheepdog trials in North Yorkshire

A single sheepdog successfully sends the sheep between two hurdles

Some sheep are brought successfully to the final pen which the shepherd closes using a length of rope. The dog is lying still so as not to rush the sheep in this final manoeuvre

The competition for crooks and sticks can also be quite serious with a large number of entries from people highly skilled in carving wood or horn.

Judging of an impressive set of shepherd’s crook competition entries at the Ryedale sheepdog trials.

Two afficionados discuss the merits of different entries

The winning entries in one of the classes

One of the proud winners.

Conclusions

Sheep farming in the UK is hard work and requires year round care of the flock and life is dictated by the annual seasonal round of activities. The sheep farmer or shepherd’s life can be lonely but there are also rewards in the production of high quality animals. The social life revolving around sheep and shepherding activities brings farmers who may live in remote places together to discuss and participate in activities of a professional nature and the friendliness and camaraderie is spiced by healthy competition, be it for the quality of sheep, the skills as a shearer or shepherd and for handcrafts.