Gathering the sheep in for shearing causes a few headaches at the farm on the M62

Our little Teckel, Boo, has been under house arrest this last week, much to her immense frustration.
Getting the sheep in for shearing has led to a few frustrationsGetting the sheep in for shearing has led to a few frustrations
Getting the sheep in for shearing has led to a few frustrations

She’s currently on heat and is desperate to go and let our two male sheepdogs know!

She stands whining at the door whilst Sweep and Sam howl long into the night, keeping us all awake. The thought of wire haired sheepdogs with daschund-length legs doesn’t bear thinking about. Despite some of the amusing names we’ve come up with, collie- teckel cross pups won’t be happening, so for now she is under lock and key.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

With the rain finally abating, the last of the hill sheep have been gathered and clipped. I’ve not had chance to help with any of the gathers, which I always enjoy. Moss edge is my favourite, a 2000-acre piece that starts just west of the farm and stretches up to junction 22 of the motorway where it meets the Pennine Way.

To the south, the moorland rises up before joining Buckstones and Cupwith, part of the Marsden Moor Estate. It’s becoming an increasingly difficult gather with large sections of the fencing up there cut, leaving the sheep free to wander an even greater distance. The molinia grass has also taken a strong foothold, making the going slow and ankle breaking.

There’s little that can be done when molinia takes hold, especially on somewhere inaccessible to vehicles like Moss edge. Despite helping with the gathers, this particular one might have proven a bit much for John-William, so it was no bad thing that neither of us could make it.

By lunchtime, the ewes and lambs were in the “big wall piece” and with much relief, the gates back out onto the edge were shut. With a large packet of sheep already assembled in the clipping shed it was decided that the Moss edge sheep would be clipped the following morning.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But of course things rarely go as planned and as it turned out, this occasion was to be no exception. We’ve had a young lad called William helping us this last week. He’s the son of good friends of ours and is a huge help to Paul. Eager to get started on the Moss edge sheep, it was agreed he’d come back the following day.

As Paul drove him home that evening he glanced across to the edge and noticed a few stray sheep, clearly ones they’d missed in the gather, that had made their own way down.

He drove on a bit further and much to his horror he saw not just a few, or a sprinkling, but the whole “miserable bunch of woolly...” pouring through a gap in the wall. The quick about turn and speedy return was just enough time for him to remember the cripple gap in the wall that unfortunately hadn’t been closed back up with a hurdle.

Several hours later William was delivered back home. I’m sure after this week his clipping skills will have improved, although I’m told he’s very good already, but I’m in no doubt that he may well have some more colourful vocabulary when it comes to talking sheep, thanks to my other half!

Related topics: