Gathering flocks
Nidderdale Moorland Group
The annual September gather of ewes and lambs from our Nidderdale moors is now well underway and we were sent these lovely pictures last week from one of our moorland gamekeepers as he assisted the local farmers and shepherds.
Our moorlands are vast open landscapes with, for the most part, no fences.
The sheep that graze these areas are ‘hefted’ to their own part of the moor through generations of knowledge passed from the ewes to their lambs – including the best areas to graze, where to go for shelter in bad weather and which gates to make for to go back to their own farm pastures.
The September gather enables farmers to wean the lambs from the ewes before the ewes return back to the moors until tupping time.
Sheep are health checked and treated for any internal or external parasites, including for ticks, which are increasing at an alarming rate in the countryside.
The treatments are the same as those used for sheep who graze year round on pastures.
The hefted flocks who graze our moorlands are helping in the fight to reduce tick numbers as they act as ‘tick-mops’.
Ticks are a serious problem for sheep, human’s, dogs and wildlife as they spread diseases such as Lymes disease and Louping-ill.
Modern treatments have today mostly replaced the annual dipping of sheep and also remove lice, mites and help to prevent sheep from suffering from ‘fly-strike’.
The annual gathering of hefted flocks throughout the year also give the farmers the opportunity to return any sheep that have wandered too far from their own areas of moorland.
The lambs will now remain on fresh farm pastures to be fattened for market or for some of the female lambs, to be retained in the flock for breeding in future.
It’s a tradition that has helped to shape the landscape and culture of our moorlands, a vital part of the ecosystem that helps to support the flora and fauna of our moorlands and of upland life and the rural communities these areas support not only in times passed but also for future generations to enjoy.