A month ago, I had an incident on the hill that I hope never happens again.

We were gathering hoggs on our rented hill farm to take them away to their wintering grazing. Towards the end of the gather, there is a steep rock face to come through and it’s a bit of the hill that I don’t enjoy being near.

As I was getting clear of the rocks, I realised one of my dogs, Misty, wasn’t there. I went back and could see and hear her barking on a ledge. Now usually a dog can find its own way out so I carried on with the gather – when you are part of a team of nine people gathering in a line you can’t really stop.

To cut a long story short, once we had the sheep gathered I went back to see if I could find Misty.

But by this time the weather was worse and in the thick mist visibility was down to about 50 yards. I could hear Misty barking above me but couldn’t get to her. One of my other dogs, Trim, could hear her pal too and must have tried to get to her. Suddenly I saw something falling from above me. It was Trim and I reckon she fell about 150ft. It was a horrible sight and she was killed outright.

I know shepherds who have lost good dogs over rocks but it had never happened to me.

In the end, the local mountain rescue team were able to save Misty. However, at the time I didn’t know whether to call them for a dog and didn’t want anyone to get hurt or risk their life. I am very much indebted to them and was so impressed with their professionalism and dedication.

We are very fortunate to have such competent volunteers who are willing to risk their lives and sacrifice their own time to help others.

As hill farmers, we have to walk these hills as part of our livelihood and tend not to go to the hill in poor weather conditions. But the incident made me think about how often recreational hill walkers go out ill-prepared and in bad conditions. If they get into difficulty and end up calling out mountain rescuers, it is often their own stupidity or carelessness that has caused the incident.

Weather conditions can change on the hill very quickly and catch people out. When we gathered that day conditions were perfect. However, a few hours later the visibility was almost nil.

I am now on the lookout for another sheepdog to replace Trim and hopefully will find one soon. Good hill dogs with an ability to think for themselves are difficult to get.

Tups

By now, most of our tups are out and working. Ewes are in good condition and up until last weekend, the dry frosty weather has been ideal for tupping. All the hill tups will be out by next week and hopefully we will get a drier spell for the next few weeks.

Sheep prices have risen more than was predicted, which bodes well for the lambs we plan to sell through the winter, and for next year’s lamb crop.

I am not convinced that Brexit will have the negative impact on future lamb prices and trade that has been predicted over the last few months. Despite the negative criticism and the misinterpretation of facts and statistics in relation to livestock production and climate change, UK sheep farmers produce a quality product, to very high standards, which is valued both here and abroad.

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