Life on Peakland hill farms is very varied, though the strongest links are with sheep farming. It reaches into all corners of everyday life, from the appearance of the landscape to annual events.

Our country calendar includes sheep sales, sheepdog trials and a public

sheep washing. Shepherds still herd the flocks on the hills and attend

meetings of Shepherds’ Societies, as they have done for hundreds of years.

Not all the Cow Clubs have died out either. You may well ask why cows need

clubs and what goes off at a cow club meeting; well let us just say that the

guests are served a hearty meal.

Back on the farm, there is work to be done. Who do you think keeps all those

miles and miles of stone walls in repair? And what are those strange round

ponds in the fields? Well they certainly aren’t paddling pools, but

“˜merely’ an essential feature of farm life in this part of the country. And

who the deuce was Mr Dew?

Many thanks to Peakland Heritage for providing this information.