I have to keep reminding him and myself the foals will come when they are ready - Jill Thorp

I find the ‘graveyard shift’, roughly around 3am, the most exhausting and must appear almost zombie-like as I drag my pyjama-clad body across the mares’ field, torch in hand. I find it impossible to drift back to sleep after this check, leaving me worn out and irritable for the rest of the day.

The hill sheep have started lambing, the Farnley flock is getting less but still my ponies refuse to part with their precious cargo. John-William has almost lost interest in going to see them.

After a week of rushing up to High Moss, the barn where the ponies have wintered, desperate to see a foal, his enthusiasm has waned. I have to keep reminding him and myself the foals will come when they’re ready.

The meadows and surrounding slopes are alive with birdsong. Lapwings and curlews, my favourite birds swoop and soar, busily defending their nests, hidden amongst the rushes.

The hawthorn hedge that we planted around our lambing meadows is a hive of activity with countless birds darting in and out of the scented flowers. The reed buntings are also busy, the females building their nests whilst the males watch on, perched effortlessly on the rushes. Unfortunately, many of the surrounding moorlands have yet again been subject to devastating fires, barbecues or discarded cigarettes the likely cause.

The prolonged dry spell, unseasonably high temperatures and huge footfall of people getting their daily exercise has proved a recipe for disaster. The firefighters, keepers and farmers do their best under incredibly difficult circumstances to control these all-engulfing fires.

But, of course, the real loss often goes unseen by most. The scorched nests laden with eggs, the countless mice, voles and lizards all perish. Thankfully we remain lucky, we haven’t suffered a big fire for many years, but are always watchful and fully aware of how precarious our situation is.

Whilst we plough on through our lambing season it’s sad to think there are no shows to look forward to. Our lovely Whitefaced Woodland ewes are producing some superb lambs that unfortunately won’t see the show ring this year.

John-William’s pony club are doing their best to keep their young members enthusiastic with online activities. The toilet roll challenge which involved catching a toilet roll and throwing it to the next person was enjoyed by him.

All the video clips were put together to form a short film of all the Rockwood Harriers’ members passing the toilet roll.

According to John-William, the film was “epic”, his new favourite word, especially as he now feels he’s a TV star!

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