Joe: A Cumbrian Shepherd

“Joe has a farm in the Lake District which has been in his family for three generations.

There are three million sheep in the Lake District. The Swaledale, the Rough Fell and the forever smiling Herdwick are fell sheep and spend most of their lives on the fells. Joe has Herdwick and they are fascinating, constantly getting into mischief.

What Joe does is hard. Very hard. Nature is relentless and unforgiving, and sheep can be really stupid. As the National Trust book on sheep keeping says, “a sheep is the only animal on earth looking for the quickest way to die” (!)

Don’t get the wrong idea, it’s not all hard graft. Standing in a field next to Joe looking out over a stone wall as the sun rises on the other side of the valley is wonderfully peaceful.

This book is a product of the time I spend with him on his farm and on the fells and includes some of the conversations we have had. I want to show there is more to the Lake District than landscapes and lambs. I want people to see the life of a shepherd.”