Knitting across England Day 4

Today I was excited to get to our next B&B because it is a working sheep farm. Our hostess, Beverly of  Green Bank Farm took a few minutes to answer a few of my questions.  One thing I noticed right away was that the sheep were not sheared prior to lambing like they are here in Utah.  She explained that they usually wait until July to shear because during this time there is new growth in the fleece that allows the shears to slide through like butter.  They also wait for a drier season so the fleece will be dry.

They work two farms and had between 1200 and 1400 lambs.  Wow!  That is a lot of wool!

They mostly raise Swaledale and some Cheviot. The Swaledale are well acclimated to the wet surroundings.  They have a fleece that repels the water well.