A lambing tale with a happy ending.

 

All in a day's work!

Our Swaledale sheep are natural mothers which is why the majority of the flock lamb outside in the pastures surrounding the farmhouse.  Outdoors they can find a quiet corner to give birth.  They instinctively know that they must immediately lick the new lamb vigorously to dry it off and to promote circulation so that the lamb gets to its feet within minutes to feed.  At the same time they both make a unique noise that ensures that when they become part of a flock the lamb will always recognise its mother and the mother will always recognise its lamb.

 Right place, right time equals a happy ending

 

We do however lamb some sheep in the buildings including the shearlings (first time mums) as sometimes help can be required.  And this morning was one of those occasions.  I noticed this sheep was a-lambing as I went about my yard duties; checking lambs had suckled, filling water buckets and hay racks.  She was having a single lamb so I intended to leave her to get on with it however  something made me look again.  Blow me, the lamb was there but the sheep hadn't got up to it! What was worse was the birthing sack hadn't broken.  The camera got flung in the hay rack as I dashed acrossed, broke the membrane and cleared its mouth and airways.  Had I not stopped for that second look this lamb would most certainly have suffocated.  As it was, it gave a cough and splutter and took its first breath.  Mum was soon to her feet and nature kicked in.  I was not needed again and both are doing fine.

More Happy Swaledale Memories

Here are more sunny photographs, sent to me by guests and friends, of days out and holidays in Swaledale.  I hope you enjoy them.  Some of the places you will recognise and some of them you may not.  Why not start making a wish list of places to visit and walks to tackle ready for when the doors to the dales are re-opened?

 Looking over to Smithy Holme.  Taken from Keldside just below Pry House Farm.

We have been lambing for a week now.  This photo was taken by Jan from the Netherlands last year although it could have been taken yesterday as this is exactly how the lambing shed looks today!  Lambing is going pretty well. It has been a steady start.  Soon we will be in the middle of a very busy time  as we have an awful lot of 'second weekers' scanned for twins.  So far the weather has been on our side - long may it continue!

 I've sneaked this photo in from this year.  Hetty the Herdwick has had twins, a pair of gimmers (females). I have called them Corra and Violet (work it out for yourselves!)   They are good strong lambs and all doing well. 

Next are a couple of photos of Louise and her family visiting some of their favourite haunts when they come to stay in Swaledale.  I'm sure many of you will recognise the locations.  Answers on a postcard please!

  
I can say with all honesty that I never get tired of the view from the windows at Pry House Farm.  I also never get tired of hearing the 'wow' when I check guests into their rooms for the first time!  For my many returning guests, the view from the bedroom window is something they look forward to.  From there, depending on the season,  you can watch the birds and the hares on the field, enjoy the lambs gamboling and playing, see the meadow full of flowers and maybe watch us making hay!

Thank you Emily for the photo from the bedroom window.  Emily and Barnabus spent their honeymoon with us in 2018

 From the first evening when we turned up so hopelessly unprepared, tired and unfed after a long journey up by car from Cornwall. You kindly rang ahead to the pub in Keld to ensure we did not miss last orders. We (and our tummies) were extremely grateful!

It was a gloriously hot week, so much so that I was actually able to enjoy walking the beautiful countryside in a t-shirt.  Even more memorable for us than the weather, was the privilege of being whisked away after breakfast to share the precious moments of a new-born lamb taking its first wobbly steps. A perfect Pry House specimen!  

We could not have asked for better hosts than you and Chris.  You made us feel most welcome, provided great advice on where to go and what to see.  We definitely want to come back when this awful situation is over. 

The Shepherd's Hut enjoys the same fabulous view - thanks Sue for this shot.

More photos of your favourite dale in the next blog.  If you haven't done so already, dig out your photographs - I'd love to see them.  Send to glenda_calvert@hotmail.co.uk

Till the next time, stay safe and well - Glenda

Swaledale Memories to make you Smile!

A trip down Swaledale Memory Lane

A few days ago I asked Pry House Farm B&B guests, my Shepherd's Hut guests and anyone who had stayed at Hillcrest Cottage for photographs and recollections of special times spent in Swaledale.  My idea is to share your photos here on my blog, on my Facebook pages and in my e-newsletter with the hope that they will bring a smile, jog a memory and trigger conversation about happy times in Yorkshire.  I have had some lovely responses and its been a real pleasure to see the farm, the cottage and the dales through someone else's eyes other than my own. 

Looking up towards Pry House Farm from Hoggarths camping field taken by Lisa who has been camping at Hoggarths for longer than I dare mention!

Sue Nichol, the Staithes Artist https://www.facebook.com/staithesartist/ September 2019

'I was visiting The Shepherd’s Hut so I could be around to meet and greet at my solo show at The Old School Gallery in Muker and also to take in Muker Show. I loved staying in the Hut. The views are to die for and so quiet!'  

Will there be a Muker Show this year?  Who knows?  September is a long way off yet so we must keep our fingers crossed and stay positive.  In farming our cup is always half full.  'What of', I hear you ask?  Yorkshire tea of course! 

The last people to stay at Hillcrest were Heather and Barry who sadly had to cut their visit to the cottage short in March.  They went home early because as the situation got worse they knew it was the right thing to do.  Like many people Heather & Barry have been to Hillcrest many times and  already reserved their chosen week for 2021. 

On the fells above Low Row.       Betty the basset watching the world go by in the garden at Hillcrest.

As we have started lambing only today I have finished with a photo of one of my regualar Pry House Farm guests bottle feeding a lamb.  Small lambs like these often need a top up.  I shall miss putting my bed & breakfast guests to use this lambing time!

I have lots more photos and stories to share with you so watch out for more posts like this.  If you have photographs I can use online please send them to glenda_calvert@hotmail.co.uk.  I'd love to see them and love to hear from you too. 

Thanks to Donna, Rachel and Jane for the last 3 photos.  Take care and stay safe.

Dosing and Marking Hoggs

Dosing and marking hoggs before being turned onto the moor

Our hoggs (young sheep) spend the winter on lowland farms.  At the beginning of April they come back to the uplands to return to their heft on the moor.

Temporary penning is erected on the roadside and with the help of the sheepdogs the hoggs come into the pen and work begins. 

  

Before the hoggs are turned away to the moor it is essential that they set off in the best of health and also marked so that they can be identified as Pry House sheep.   They are dosed against disease and marked with the Pry House mark (a long black line on the near side) and a heft mark on the fleece above the leg (a red 'pop' above the off-side front leg).  

 

 

A good dog never takes his eye off the job.

Isolated but not Alone

Isolated but not Alone

A big hello to everyone who follows my blog, to all who have stayed at Hillcrest Cottage, to everyone who has had bed & breakfast with us here at Pry House Farm and to those who have enjoyed a retreat in the Shepherd's Hut.  

Oh my goodness, whoever in their worst nightmare could have dreamt up such a thing? When you read my last blog post in February whoever would have thought we would be living through such trying, exhausting, unbelievably crazy times?

There's no point in pretending that I am not worried.  Everyone is anxious about their families and concerned how we are going to get through the extraordinary measures we have to abide by. 

But I also know how lucky I am to have miles of 'nowhere' right outside my door that is teaming with wildlife to distract me.

Only a few days ago I watched a pair of oystercatchers claiming a nesting place by the river, I stumbled across frog spawn and followed the curlews on home field as they foraged for worms and grubs.

 As regular visitors to the top of Swaledale know, spring comes later here than the rest of the country but I'm pleased to report that it has finally arrived.

  The daffodils outshine the weak early sun and it won't be long before the fields will be dotted with lambs.  At Pry House Farm we start lambing on 10th April.  Nothing halts lambing time!

I shall be posting lots of photos and news as lambing progresses.  I have always loved sharing our farming experiences and this year will be no exception.

Please, please take care of yourselves.  Best wishes from us all on the farm.

Walls and walling - Big 'uns and lal' 'uns

The hundreds of miles of dry stone walls that form field boundaries and fell walls 

are a fascinating feature of the Yorkshire Dales.

In places, where the gradient of the landscape dictates, the wall appears to climbs endlessly 

towards the sky.  

 

The walls are all built in the same way; a double skin with a narrow cavity in the middle where small stone and broken bits are thrown.  Generally three levels of 'through stones' or 'truffs' are placed to bridge both sides of the wall.  The 'throughs' gives the wall its strength.  Finally a tight and tidy row of top stones completes the job. 

Chris recently rebuilt this stretch of wall that leads to a gate. Now tall and straight it will easily stand for another 100 years.

 Like the hundreds of little stone buildings in Swaledale, the walls are all unique.  They have special features such as stiles and thru'les or smoot holes.  Read about these in a previous blog post https://pryhousefarm.blogspot.com/2019/03/dry-stone-walls.html

Its surprising where an appreciation of the intricacy of these structures can lead.  Last year I enrolled on a workshop led by a farmer & dry stone waller from Teesdale.  Trevor Dixon established Dalestone Crafts in 1992 and has been making minatures for over 30 years.

I have made two minature walls and a plant pot holder.  The walls are constructed in exactly the same way as a proper wall and can include features such as a step stile, gateway, ladder stile or smoot hole 

 

I wanted to wall into a corner and took my inspiration from this  piece of wall in the corner of Pry House home field that has a stepped stile.

It has been fun making in minature what Chris does for real.  My models are lovely but they will never be a shelter from a storm, a place of safety where a yow might choose to lamb, a home for insects, voles and other small mammals or grow green with lichen and moss.

Chris, his brother and his nephew can all wall, a craft that has been handed down through the generations and is an essential skill to keep our walls in good order.    

January brings the snow

We have a light covering of snow this  morning giving me the perfect opportunity to pop down and give some extra fodder to Heidi and Hetty, my Herdwick ewes.

They certainly found this sweet hay very tasty.

 

I give them hay and sugar beet cubes in the cow'us (in Swaledale this is the name for a field barn) as it can get wasted if fed outdoors.
As much as Heidi and Hetty want the feed they are still cautious.  They know me, they recognise my voice but at the end of the day they are wild, not pets, and that is how it should be.

It didn't take long however for them to overcome their nerves and to start tucking in.  Happy Herdys!