Hefted sheep

I went to pick up a new slide today for Grace, courtesy of the amazing phenomenon that is Freecycle. The journey took me 20 minutes or so over the fell (moor) to Alston, the highest market town in England and a very curious little place, set on a hill with a cobbled main street and quite a few interesting little shops, cafes and galleries. Today though, I just got the slide and went straight home.

The drive can be precarious, especially at this time of year. It is full of sharp bends and steep slopes as it is, but in springtime the sheep have their lambs with them and the little ones can dart across the road at any time. Warning signs are placed at the roadside by the farmers, but still quite a few lambs are knocked down each year.

The sheep on the fells are 'HEFTED', which means that several flocks belonging to several different farmers all graze on the moorland, but in separate sections. This is a tradition that has been going on for centuries. The sheep just learn over time which turf is theirs. There's more about it HERE if you're interested. During the foot and mouth outbreaks here in 2001, some areas of fell land were infected, and so all the flocks on those fells had to be put down. People were worried about getting the sheep resettled into their own areas, but it seems to have worked ok round here.


A year ago: Produce/cake stall