Hill Farming in the North of England by John Bentley

Introduction

My interest in hill farming as a subject really began in the late 1970s when I wandered into the old livestock market at Penistone in South Yorkshire. The buildings were basically rough-and-ready brick and tin sheds, but there was amazing light falling on the cast of characters and activities inside. At that time some of the farmers were still dressed in traditional long coats and cloth caps, while buyers might be smartly dressed with waistcoats, ties and trilby or bowler hats. Times have changed and participants are now more likely to be dressed in baseball caps and general outdoor gear or in clothing sporting the logos of agricultural feed firms or tractor manufacturers.

On moving to the Yorkshire Dales in 2014, I again started photographing local livestock markets before progressing towards agricultural events, particularly sheep shows. I gravitated not towards big, posh corporate events like the Yorkshire Show, but towards local sheep shows, notably the magnificent Tan Hill Open Swaledale Sheep Show, held annually in makeshift enclosures on the expansive open moorland next to the solitary Tan Hill Inn, Britain’s highest public house.

As I started to understand more about hill farming and got to know more farmers, the project began to focus on farming work, season to season, starting with sheep being gathered from the fells. Hill farming in northern England is mainly focused on sheep, although beef cattle are also reared and there is still some dairying in the mix of activities. Dairy cattle were once a major part of the economy in the hills and the many field barns (or more accurately ‘cow houses’) in the Yorkshire Dales are testament to this. Dairying now tends to be carried out in lower-lying areas, where there is better-quality grassland. It also tends to be on a bigger scale, with large purpose-built buildings increasingly characterising cattle farms.

Unlike sheep, cattle can calve all year round, so the farming regime is less seasonal. While sheep generally remain outdoors (except when indoor lambing takes place), most cattle are kept under cover between late autumn and spring, except for some hardy breeds such as the Belted Galloway and the Highland. While black and white Holstein-Friesian cattle are common, as in much of Britain, many other breeds, both new and traditional, can be seen. As with sheep, individual farmers have their breed preferences. As well as the hardy outdoor cattle already mentioned, there are many other breeds to be seen on upland farms, including the traditional Longhorn as well Continental-originating breeds such as the Limousin and the British Blue.

After the cost of shearing is taken into account, most upland sheep’s wool is of little, if any, economic value today (particularly the rough fleeces from hill breeds). Sheep are therefore ultimately reared for an end product of meat rather than wool. However,

true hill sheep are reared for the survival of pedigree breeds. By so doing, hill farmers provide good breeding ewes for crossing with other breeds of ram (e.g. the Bluefaced Leicester or Texel tup). Meat lambs are a secondary income on hill farms with moorland sheep. Much of the sheep rearing takes place on open fell and moorland, with the rugged hill breeds being ‘hefted’: hefting means that the ewes ‘learn’ their territory and this knowledge is passed on to their lambs. In this way hefted sheep can be left to roam their territory on the open moorland without the need for containment in enclosed fields. The devastating foot and mouth disease outbreak of 2001 led to the culling of huge numbers of sheep, so many flocks of ‘new’ sheep had to be ‘re-taught’ their heft areas by the shepherds, involving more frequent round-ups and redirecting sheep to their proper heft areas.

Several times a year the hefted sheep need to be taken down from the hills for various purposes, such as shearing (or ‘clipping’). This is the fell gather, which can be a spectacular event, with hundreds of sheep being driven down from the fells by the shepherds and their dogs.

In reality, hill farmers spend a lot of time just moving sheep around. For example, moving sheep between different pastures, to market or back to the farm for various purposes (like lambing, dipping or shearing). For short distances sheep may be driven along country lanes, usually with the shepherd on a quad bike assisted by their trusty sheepdogs. However, for longer trips the sight of a quad bike or four-wheel-drive vehicle with a trailer load of sheep is a frequent sight in the countryside.

There is much local loyalty to particular traditional breeds of sheep. In much of the Yorkshire Dales the predominant breed is the Swaledale (whose distinctive face is the emblem of the Yorkshire Dales National Park), although the equally handsome Dalesbred has many devotees. In the northern Howgill Fells and in Westmorland the Rough Fell breed is common, while the Lake District is home to the famous Herdwick. Further north and into Scotland, the Blackface breed becomes increasingly common. The Cheviot is also popular as a hill breed. In the south Pennines and Lancashire, the Lonk, Derbyshire Gritstone and Whitefaced Woodland are often seen, although these are now classed as rare breeds of hill sheep.

Sheep breeding is a complex process. Hill breeds are convenient in that they can thrive in a harsh upland environment, but to produce the best meat the ewes are crossed with lowland rams. An example of a traditional cross-breed is the Masham, produced by crossing a Dalesbred ewe with a Teeswater ram. However, more common nowadays is the North Country Mule, which is the result of crossing a Swaledale ewe with a Bluefaced Leicester ram. Mule lambs are sold in their thousands at autumn markets in northern England, whereafter they can be seen grazing in pastures all over the UK. Further cross-breeding also takes place; for example, the crossing of the Mule ewe with a Texel or Suffolk ram to produce a good lamb for meat. Continental breeds of sheep, like the Texel and Beltex, are now a very common sight, mainly in the lower-lying parts of hill farming areas.

This book follows the seasons of the year, which dictate the cycle of the hill farming calendar. In basic terms, winter is the time when the farmers’ main daily task is care of the pregnant ewes, by way of providing hay and supplementary feedstuff. Spring is lambing time, while summer sees the shearing of the sheep and also haymaking, which provides the essential feed for sheep and cattle over winter. Autumn is ‘tupping’ time, when the tups (rams) mate with the yows (ewes) with a view to lambs arriving in spring.

Hill Farming in the North of England by John Bentley is available for purchase now.