Farm Facts

Our farm is situated on the edge of, Exmoor between Wimbleball and Clatworty reservoirs. The farm rises from 850 to 1000 feet above sea level. Consequently we have a shorter growing season than those farming on lowland farms (this is why we cannot continue finishing lambs beyond February)

The farm is about 350 acres of which 100 acres is woodland. We cut silage and hay each year to feed during the harder winter months. We also grow about 15 acres of kale, which we feed to the lambs from December until February. The ewes are housed in large sheds between January and March, when they lamb, the ewes and lambs are turned out after about 24 hours, depending on the weather conditions!

Our sheep dog Bet 29/05/00

The Sheep

Ewes and lambs in early April 2000

In Britain the sheep industry is based around a unique and highly successful system, called stratification. It is a process by which farmers in the uplands of the North of England and Scotland produce a hardy productive sheep, which they then sell in the Autumn to farmers in lower areas, these sheep are known as Mules. The main advantages of the system are that the lowland farmers are blessed with a superior breeding sheep, and the upland farmers don't have the challenging job of finishing lambs for meat on their bleak upland moors.