Addicted to Sheep


Addicted to Sheep

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GATE OPENS

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He has little things that isn't right. He isn't wide enough there.

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His head should be a bit wider.

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And he has a slight discolouration there, which isn't a good thing.

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And where his hair's thinned,

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where it's just a bit baldy there, that shouldn't be.

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It should be full. He should keep it.

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And it should be a bit wider there. And it should be a bit shorter hair.

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And these horns are a bit wide.

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Some people like them with a lot of colour round their eyes

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and a big bump of white on the nose.

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And other people like them like this one,

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where there's just a little bit, and the colour's well down.

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It's supposed to be nice and round there, and full.

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The idea is to make him look like he's got a longer leg, so that when

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he goes to a sale, he looks like he's going to grow into a big...

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a great big stretchy tup that somebody might want to have

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progeny off.

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It's just to enhance his bits so that he looks

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the best he possibly can.

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Same as a woman putting make-up on in the morning.

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She doesn't do it because she thinks it's going to make her look worse.

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She's going to look better. That's the theory, anyway.

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Some of them aren't very successful.

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Same with the tups.

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Sometimes you aren't very successful at making them look more attractive.

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They just look worse.

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We were just discussing in the pub the other day that

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Swaledale sheep are one of the worst addictions known to man.

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You just keep coming back and you keep having a go

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and you keep getting a right kick in the nuts!

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But then, next day, you stand up and you have a look at next year's

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sheep and you think, "Oh, well, this may be one of next year's."

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Never wanted to do anything else, really.

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His parents weren't farmers, but his grandfather was a farmer

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and that's where he kind of spent most of his holidays and that.

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-All spare time.

-Yeah.

-So it became a nasty addiction, a nasty habit.

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MOOING

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-He loves every minute, really!

-Yes.

-He just...

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MOOING

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-He's a typical grumpy old farmer.

-Yeah.

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Which was an ambition in life, obviously, from day one!

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-Which he's fulfilling quite well!

-Yeah. Yeah.

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Yeah, well, it was always an ambition to get

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-a gnarly old farmer's wife!

-You've got that.

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HE CHUCKLES

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Are you ready?

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HE WHISTLES

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Get down! Get down! Get down!

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HE WHISTLES

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HE WHISTLES

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HE WHISTLES

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HE WHISTLES

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Lie down.

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This way.

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Going to Cocklake, a barn of ours,

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over the field - a few fields.

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And we're going to get some hay,

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or a silage.

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LAMBS BLEAT

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SPEECH DROWNED BY ENGINE

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These are our tups,

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and the tups are like boys.

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They...um,

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they mate the girls

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and make them have lambs.

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And you keep them to breed your own

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lambs. Some more tups,

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or...and girl - yows.

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Or some of them you put in a fat.

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For people to eat.

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You identify your yows and tups

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by the tag.

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Normally.

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And sometimes, sometimes you can remember who they are,

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what they're from, who sired them and who damned them

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by how they look.

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But I can't.

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And you've got certain yows that you want to put to a certain tup,

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so you put them in the same field without another tup in,

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or else the tup that you want to tup some, it'll tup the ones

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that you want to tup the other - the other tup to tup.

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And it will make a bad mixture.

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So, they'll have wide horns or something like that.

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Or black feet.

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My father always... He left farming and became a policeman,

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but he always used to buy a young male,

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a lamb...of this type,

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keep it for a year and then try to sell it on as a profit.

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So, I've always had that, we've always done that,

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so that just kept the enthusiasm there.

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Then, when we got chance, we bought ten yows and, then, when we got

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chance for a few more yows, we bought more yows,

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and just, generally, it's kept going.

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I like this farm. I like living here.

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It's nice when it snows,

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because you see all the little, like...

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snowflakes coming down really fast, twirling around.

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I might not be a farmer when I'm older.

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I might just keep, like, horses

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and do artwork and stuff.

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Because I'm into art.

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I sometimes go in the house and play,

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because the...kind of, you get in the way sometimes,

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with cows, because they kick.

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And yeah. So, you get in the way a bit.

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You get in the way a bit. But not a lot.

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We just get shouted at a little bit, but it's not much.

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I don't really want to be a farmer because...

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you have to pay staff,

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you have to work on the farm,

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muck up the sloppy, sloppy poo.

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Not nice.

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I think they should, um,

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pick it up theirselves instead of us.

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SHE WHISPERS TO HORSE

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-Horrible, isn't it?

-What?

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Weather.

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Yep.

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Right. Come on, then, Mummy will go and have a sledge.

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-Good!

-Yay!

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Woohoo! Woo! Woohoo!

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Right.

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Go!

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THEY SQUEAL

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THEY LAUGH AND CHEER

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-DOG BARKS

-Maggie!

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MUTTERED CONVERSATION

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No, because this is mine. It was sharper.

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TELEVISION IN BACKGROUND

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So, we take the feet off.

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There's the legs gone.

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-Hmm?

-There's the legs gone.

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-The feet.

-The feet.

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We eat most of our own meat.

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It's even better when you know what sort of life it's had,

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it's had a very nice life.

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You know what you've fed it, you know everything about its history.

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Now you can pull.

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-The...

-Feed bag out.

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The windpipe and the feed sack out.

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-OK? All done.

-It's Thursday tomorrow.

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THEY SHOUT

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-Hey! Come here!

-Oi, get off!

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-Ow, you stood on me foot!

-Right, nice straight line. Shoulders.

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All I want to see is a line of shoulders.

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And in we go.

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# There is a green hill far away

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# Outside a city wall

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# Where Christ our Lord was crucified

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# Who died to save us all... #

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-Morning.

-Morning.

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Yeah, well. I'm going to ask you a few questions.

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I think I know the answer to this,

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but put your hands up if your parents are farmers.

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Right. Good.

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How many of you like living where you live,

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and like living on a farm?

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Right. Tom.

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You can, like, go and...like,

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see if any, like, sheep have staggers or something.

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Just on your quad bike.

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-Luke?

-Nature.

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-The nature is brilliant around here.

-Right.

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And then you get to...

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have animals for money.

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-You mean you sell them?

-Yeah.

-Once you've reared them?

-Yeah.

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When I get back from school, I always put...get in my wellies

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and go and check the hens, see how many eggs we've got and feed them.

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-You've got a free life.

-Mm-hmm.

-You don't have any neighbours, what you,

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what you have to be quiet and you have to annoy them.

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You can just scream your house down or anything, because you're

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not, like, next door to them and you can just run about and be a maniac.

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And is there anything you don't like about living where you live?

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No.

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Two.

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-Right.

-That's the lamb there, the body.

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That's its head. The white circle.

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And another body there and another head there.

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Two in her.

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SPEECH DROWNED BY NOISE

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-Yeah. No, fine. Don't see very much of them.

-No?

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Well, we didn't sleep last night, John.

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-I don't want to know, Kay.

-No, not like that!

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THEY LAUGH

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Worrying about today.

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-Three.

-Trust you!

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It's hard work, mentally, you know,

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if you're scanning 2,000 sheep every day.

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Um...you need...

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good concentration levels.

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So, today, I'm doing eight jobs, I think, today.

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Seven in Teesdale and one over in Weardale, this afternoon.

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So, yeah.

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Three quarters of the way through this season now,

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so looking forward to the end.

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Then I go back to lamb my own sheep.

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'Main income. Yeah.'

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-Two. Two.

-Two and seven.

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'So, it's meant we can do what we want on the farm.'

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Also give three kids a good education.

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And keep my wife in a manner to which she's become accustomed.

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-OK?

-Yep.

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-It's done, just purely and simply to give John some money.

-Two.

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-It's the upland farmer looking after the lowland farmer.

-Yeah!

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-No, no, no.

-No?

-Who said two?

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-Nobody?

-No.

-THEY LAUGH

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Sorry, John!

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-You wouldn't want your percentage to be wrong.

-No.

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-Right?

-Yeah, that's the job lot done.

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-There you go.

-Thank you.

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Two so far.

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I better go and pick up the kids from school.

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-I've got some very exciting news.

-What?

-We've been scanning today.

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-And your two yows...

-Yeah?

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-They're both having twins!

-Aww!

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-So you're going to have four lambs this year!

-Yay!

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-Well, I've already got...

-Two gimmer lambs, haven't you?

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-Wow!

-And two yows.

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Tenancy was the only way, really, that Tom

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and I could get into farming.

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Obviously, we can't afford to buy our own farm,

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so tenancy is the only way we can go into it,

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so you get your farm for a certain length of time and, for that

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length of time, you invest and make the best job that you can do.

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From a day-to-day point of view,

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it really is the same as owning the farm.

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You know, you do things which you think's going to work

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the best for your own farm. We're on a very good estate,

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who do leave you alone to a greater or lesser extent

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and don't stipulate too many things. As long as you're

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paying your rent, they're sort of happy to leave you to it.

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As far as we know.

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Scott! Scott!

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SHE CALLS DOG

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SHE BAAS LIKE A SHEEP

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Scott!

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Away! Lie down!

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Come by! Come by!

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Get up! Get up!

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Get up!

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Come by!

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Get up!

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Get up!

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Get up! Come by!

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Lie down.

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SHE BAAS LIKE A SHEEP

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-No.

-SHE MUMBLES

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SHEEP SQUEALS

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HE STRUGGLES

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HE GROANS

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It's just the water. Did you want a bit of Fairy liquid in it?

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I sent Hetty to get it.

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Hetty!

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Come on!

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Right, stand back, now.

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-Do you want her down or...?

-Yeah, just...

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Ah, you!

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Just too much of a struggle for him.

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The other one's dead, and we've got pet lambs,

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and then they can be, um, they can be with another mum and dad.

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If one sheep has a baby but it doesn't survive, the journey,

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so they get a pet lamb and they can put it to the mother.

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-You cover the babies...

-'Look. Lie down.'

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..the babies in the gooey stuff,

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and the baby's body, what's dead,

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onto the other one, so it doesn't smell like a different one.

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It smells like hers.

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Her one.

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Just one on his own.

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It's just a new way of, um, they can get started again.

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Just stand back, Jack.

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Unfortunately, I think the yow has a strong possibility of dying as well.

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She's just had too much of a pull there.

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We'll see in the next hour or two.

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-Come on, breakfast time, kiddy-winkles.

-OK.

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-..If you haven't had it.

-Kiddy-winkles!

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MUTTERED CONVERSATION

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What could you think is not so good about being on a farm?

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-Winter.

-Winter. What's wrong with the winter here?

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It freezes up all your pipes and everything,

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-and it makes the roads slippery.

-Mm.

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So you can't get any feed up.

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You don't get out and see many people.

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-It can be lonely, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-You've got to make a special effort.

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And say you're going somewhere

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and then something goes completely wrong on your farm,

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you're like, "I thought we were going to grandma and grandad's."

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We had a pet calf, and I fed it at night,

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and it was drinking away happily,

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nowt wrong with it.

0:28:450:28:48

When I went outside in the morning,

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laid down dead.

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-That is horrifying, isn't it?

-Like...

-It's the worst thing.

0:28:520:28:56

Legs stiff, you can't move it.

0:28:560:29:00

I don't like it when you have your own yow

0:29:000:29:04

and she dies or her lamb dies.

0:29:040:29:06

-That isn't very good.

-Yeah.

0:29:060:29:08

Because that's like the start of your flock.

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This is the yow that had the bad lambing yesterday morning.

0:29:150:29:18

We've tried to mother that lamb on,

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but because she'd had so much stress,

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we decided it wasn't fair that...

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on her or the lamb.

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She's still alive, at the minute.

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She's drinking and she's eating.

0:29:310:29:33

Still not sure about her.

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If she does survive, we'll just fitten her up

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and she'll go in the fat. She won't stay on this farm.

0:29:380:29:41

There's no point keeping her. She's had a bad lambing.

0:29:410:29:45

She was geld last year,

0:29:450:29:48

so we just cut our losses and she goes in the fat.

0:29:480:29:51

Hopefully, if she lives.

0:29:520:29:53

It's a battle to succeed at being any sort of farmer,

0:29:580:30:01

because when you're farming livestock,

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you get this horrible thing that's called deadstock,

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when things die for no apparent reason.

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And you get the ones that die for a reason and you get the ones

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that die because you've put them down because they've been ill.

0:30:140:30:18

But every now and again, you come across ones

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that just lie down and die, and you can't think why.

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I mean, most sheep farmers will tell you

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that the main ambition of a sheep,

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virtually from day one, is to die.

0:30:300:30:33

-As soon as...

-Just to lie down and put all four legs up.

-Yeah.

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The quicker it does it, the happier it seems to be.

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And you can throw money at the creatures

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and still have no success at all.

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So being a success at it is as much down to luck as anything else.

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But you do need to have a little bit of, little bit of skill.

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An idea about things.

0:30:530:30:55

-If it were running wild, this one would have died.

-A year or two ago.

0:31:330:31:37

The horns would've grown into its face and it would've killed it.

0:31:370:31:40

It would've died of starvation or the maggots would've

0:31:400:31:43

got out the flies.

0:31:430:31:45

And it's because people have been breeding them

0:31:450:31:47

for years and looking after them that...

0:31:470:31:49

..they allow this to develop.

0:31:510:31:53

It's a bit of moss. It's just to soak the blood up.

0:32:030:32:06

So it congeals actually in place on the horn.

0:32:070:32:10

If we were at home, we would gather up some cobwebs

0:32:100:32:13

and stick that on.

0:32:130:32:15

It sort of does the same thing.

0:32:150:32:16

THEY SNORT

0:32:280:32:32

One of the kids' gimmer hogs is in here.

0:32:380:32:42

QUIET MUTTERING No, he's looking at you there.

0:32:420:32:45

-No, you wish. No, that one.

-That one there, OK?

0:32:460:32:48

So, Jack picked the yow when he bought it.

0:32:480:32:51

-He bought it himself at Kirkby Stephen.

-Three years ago?

0:32:510:32:54

Yeah, be three years ago.

0:32:540:32:56

And he had a tup, sheared him last year at Hawes, was £300 out of it.

0:32:560:33:00

INDISTINCT CHATTER

0:33:040:33:07

We've got a new classroom today.

0:33:070:33:09

So, 9th and 16th? Right. Right.

0:33:090:33:13

-See you! See you tomorrow night!

-Mummy!

0:33:130:33:16

Mum-m-m-y!

0:33:160:33:19

-There's six eggs in there.

-Where?

-In there.

0:33:220:33:26

-Oh, lovely.

-Not for you, though.

-Six rotten eggs.

0:33:260:33:29

No, they're not. No!

0:33:290:33:32

Ooh, is it chocolate?

0:33:320:33:35

-Yes!

-Caramel!

-Oh-ho-ho! For Mummy!

0:33:350:33:38

-Yes.

-You're just such a thoughtful child.

0:33:380:33:42

Whoa!

0:33:420:33:46

Cheater!

0:33:460:33:48

We've just castrated that one because he's not a good enough,

0:34:330:34:36

not good enough to keep as a breeding ram.

0:34:360:34:39

Yellow, brown, 103. Lie down.

0:34:390:34:42

Behind you.

0:34:520:34:54

It's not his, it's not hers. Lie down.

0:34:540:34:58

I'll do you a swap.

0:34:580:34:59

It's a nice lamb because of where its legs are marked.

0:35:110:35:15

Having it white down the front and black down the back is a very...

0:35:150:35:18

is ideal for the swale.

0:35:180:35:20

Nice black shank there.

0:35:200:35:22

Yeah. And the black underneath is ideal.

0:35:220:35:24

And the type of hair it's got, it's got quite a short, wiry hair.

0:35:240:35:28

And it's... There's no horrible mucky marks,

0:35:310:35:33

black marks on its body.

0:35:330:35:35

I'll just go and take it back to its mum.

0:35:350:35:37

We try to breed the best stock that we can, so that

0:35:420:35:46

when we come to sell our stock, it's maybe of a slightly higher

0:35:460:35:51

quality or a slightly better type, so that people want to buy off us.

0:35:510:35:55

That's the hope.

0:35:550:35:56

We're not trying to compete with the industrial fast finishers

0:35:560:36:01

and things, just because we know we couldn't.

0:36:010:36:04

We have small numbers which add value to everything that we sell.

0:36:040:36:08

Lie down.

0:36:160:36:18

So, would you recommend to other children

0:36:180:36:22

that they could have a good life

0:36:220:36:24

up here, or would you say it's not for everybody?

0:36:240:36:28

What would you say to that? Luke?

0:36:280:36:31

It's not for everybody, because...

0:36:310:36:33

people don't have as much experience as us,

0:36:330:36:38

and let's say they went up to the fell now,

0:36:380:36:43

and they wouldn't know where anything is.

0:36:430:36:46

Sometimes it's not for everyone, but someone might find

0:36:460:36:49

their, like, their potential to be a farmer when they don't know...

0:36:490:36:54

Like, when I went to rugby,

0:36:540:36:56

I didn't know anything and then Toddy said that I've got potential.

0:36:560:37:01

So they might be a townie child,

0:37:010:37:05

and they might come up here and then they might have really good

0:37:050:37:08

potential to be a farmer.

0:37:080:37:10

The sheep know where they have to go on the fell because they've

0:37:100:37:14

got little bits and they don't wander very far away from our...

0:37:140:37:20

-Heft.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

0:37:200:37:22

And...my dad says that

0:37:220:37:24

the only way to learn is that you watch.

0:37:240:37:29

Yes.

0:37:290:37:30

HE CALLS TO THE SHEEP

0:38:180:38:21

HE WHISTLES

0:38:240:38:26

We'll come back in beginning of July,

0:39:420:39:45

and they'll all get gathered up and will get clipped, get shorn.

0:39:450:39:48

And then that's sort of them up here

0:39:480:39:50

until November for some of the yows.

0:39:500:39:53

So, no, that'll be, uh...

0:39:530:39:55

Yes, that should be it, hopefully.

0:39:550:39:57

When we came to this farm, one of the main things that really

0:40:030:40:07

attracted us was the sheep on the fell.

0:40:070:40:09

The fact that there was fell sheep,

0:40:090:40:10

proper Swaledale sheep that were surviving up there.

0:40:100:40:13

And, hopefully, we were just nicely getting them improved when somebody

0:40:130:40:16

came and said, "Look, we want to reduce the sheep on the fell.

0:40:160:40:19

"He's got to take a third of the sheep off because it's overgrazed."

0:40:190:40:23

And, frankly, they came with very little information

0:40:230:40:27

and very little proof of what they were saying,

0:40:270:40:29

and we just had to take their word for it.

0:40:290:40:31

It means that these fields get a lot harder grazed

0:40:340:40:36

and have to work a lot harder, so it just adds to the workload.

0:40:360:40:41

And they just presume that you're

0:40:410:40:43

going to do it for very little money,

0:40:430:40:45

which...which they wouldn't.

0:40:450:40:48

If you told them how much money we didn't make on here,

0:40:480:40:52

and asked them to live on the same, they just wouldn't do it.

0:40:520:40:56

They would be in tears on telly somewhere,

0:40:560:41:00

begging for money.

0:41:000:41:01

You've got all the purple

0:41:280:41:31

and different kinds of green,

0:41:310:41:33

and there's a, like a lightish colour.

0:41:330:41:37

There's a pinky and then there's dark,

0:41:370:41:41

and then you have the church which has red windows.

0:41:410:41:44

I think I'm going to have my own, like, gallery when I grow up,

0:41:460:41:50

because I think I might have a bit of talent.

0:41:500:41:54

When I'm not on the farm.

0:41:560:41:57

We're quite lucky in the fact that we've got a 15-year farm

0:42:090:42:13

business tenancy, which gives us a bit of a secure future.

0:42:130:42:16

At the minute, I mean, we're comfortable.

0:42:170:42:21

And, really, that's all that we ask for,

0:42:210:42:23

as long as we can feed the kids and that sort of thing

0:42:230:42:27

and reinvest in the farm. I mean,

0:42:270:42:29

we're certainly not saving for retirement or anything like that.

0:42:290:42:33

I don't know how we'll get off

0:42:330:42:37

later in life,

0:42:370:42:40

because, at the minute, there isn't the resources there to

0:42:400:42:43

kind of secure our future or our retirement.

0:42:430:42:48

It's nice when Tom's about and he's there to give us a hand

0:42:500:42:53

and that sort of thing, but, on the other hand, it's also nice to just

0:42:530:42:56

work on your own and just get on by yourself and have that freedom of

0:42:560:42:59

you only being the one out in the field

0:42:590:43:02

and just taking in the scenery and that sort of thing.

0:43:020:43:05

So, no, it's nice to work together, but there's also time

0:43:050:43:08

just to have by yourself as well.

0:43:080:43:10

I was never going to clip sheep. When I was working for other people,

0:43:330:43:36

I always said I was never going to do it because it was hard work.

0:43:360:43:40

You don't earn enough money on the farm to be able to pay the bills,

0:43:440:43:48

so if you can do specific jobs...

0:43:480:43:52

for other people who don't want to do it,

0:43:520:43:56

it provides us with an extra income,

0:43:560:43:59

so that we don't starve to death.

0:43:590:44:01

I've been cribbing with Tom for 11 years.

0:44:090:44:13

11 seasons.

0:44:130:44:14

I did have a full head of hair before he started cribbing with us,

0:44:160:44:19

but it's all gone now!

0:44:190:44:21

Dad! I've got some bad news for you.

0:44:500:44:53

She hasn't been very well. She was on the fell

0:45:140:45:17

and, uh, she wasn't very well, so we kept her in.

0:45:170:45:20

Then we clipped her, beginning of July,

0:45:200:45:23

just so that she could die at home rather than outside.

0:45:230:45:26

It cost us £17 to get rid of her.

0:45:260:45:28

But, uh, yeah, it was a bit expected. She's about a...

0:45:290:45:33

She'll be a four crop yow, so...she's had four lots of lambs.

0:45:330:45:37

For living on the fell, it's sort of getting old enough,

0:45:370:45:40

but because she was born and bred up there,

0:45:400:45:42

I thought she would survive quite happily with the lambs up there,

0:45:420:45:45

but she obviously decided she didn't want to.

0:45:450:45:48

She's succeeded in her ambitions

0:45:480:45:51

of dying.

0:45:510:45:53

SHE SHOUTS TO THE SHEEP

0:46:370:46:40

We started the first week in June, and half of July we've clipped,

0:47:050:47:09

and the other half we've spent in the house because it's been wet.

0:47:090:47:13

-We've clipped about...

-Nearly 14,000.

-Yeah.

0:47:130:47:17

Nearly 14,000 between the two of us.

0:47:170:47:20

That's with our own sheep as well included. We've got sick now.

0:47:200:47:25

We were ready to finish about three weeks ago.

0:47:250:47:28

There's no other jobs in agriculture that pays us

0:47:280:47:31

like this for the same length of time a day.

0:47:310:47:33

It's hard work, but the money is quite good.

0:47:340:47:37

More recent years, the price has gone up quite a lot because

0:47:390:47:42

there's a lot less people doing it.

0:47:420:47:44

People have realised that you're doing more damage to your body

0:47:440:47:47

than it's worth, so...

0:47:470:47:50

it's become a lot more expensive.

0:47:500:47:54

£1.15 a sheep.

0:47:550:47:56

With...tups are double.

0:47:570:47:59

These sheep here probably won't pay for the clipping.

0:48:010:48:05

It's just something that has to be done.

0:48:050:48:08

Woohoo!

0:48:130:48:15

Very funny!

0:48:360:48:38

THEY LAUGH

0:48:380:48:40

Everything that we do is for ourselves.

0:49:140:49:16

Everything that we improve is our own and it improves ourselves,

0:49:160:49:22

whereas, if you work for somebody else, everything that you do,

0:49:220:49:25

unless you got a very, very, very good boss,

0:49:250:49:28

everything you do is theirs.

0:49:280:49:30

And, at the end of the day, if you upset the boss, it's theirs

0:49:300:49:35

and you've got to move on. And you've ended up...

0:49:350:49:37

You work very hard and improve things for nothing,

0:49:370:49:40

because somebody else gets to come in and take over.

0:49:400:49:43

Thankfully, Raby Estate still offer some small farms like this.

0:49:450:49:50

A lot of other estates, especially more nowadays, including

0:49:500:49:53

the councils, would've amalgamated into other farms and maybe

0:49:530:49:57

got more money from renting the house out as a holiday cottage.

0:49:570:50:01

The local landlord, Lord Barnard, wants to keep the dale alive

0:50:010:50:06

with people and keep some of the amenities going, like the school

0:50:060:50:09

and things, so when he comes to let farms,

0:50:090:50:12

he looks favourably on young people.

0:50:120:50:14

Can you put your desk lid down, please?

0:50:150:50:18

And, Ryan, get your lids down.

0:50:180:50:20

And Luke.

0:50:200:50:22

Would any of you like to be a farmer?

0:50:250:50:28

And you don't have to be a farmer, you know,

0:50:290:50:32

there are other things to do.

0:50:320:50:34

You might consider it,

0:50:340:50:37

but be aware there are other things to do.

0:50:370:50:41

I definitely want to be a farmer because it's a good experience.

0:50:410:50:44

You mean you want to be one at the moment?

0:50:460:50:49

Yeah, I think I will when I'm older as well.

0:50:490:50:51

Having a Suffolk sheep farm,

0:50:510:50:54

-but not in Suffolk!

-Right.

0:50:540:50:58

Because I like Suffolks, and I think they're very nice.

0:50:580:51:01

What attracts you to the Suffolk sheep, then?

0:51:010:51:04

I don't know, just my dad has them and I like their ears

0:51:040:51:07

and they're quiet.

0:51:070:51:10

I might want to be a rare breed farmer.

0:51:100:51:14

Like, I've got all rare breed sheep and cows and that.

0:51:140:51:17

What else might you do? What else might you consider?

0:51:170:51:22

-Auctioneer.

-Why would you want to be an auctioneer?

0:51:220:51:27

I've had lots of generations being an auctioneer,

0:51:270:51:30

so I'm hopefully going to be another one.

0:51:300:51:33

I can see you doing that.

0:51:330:51:34

QUIET CONVERSATION

0:52:040:52:06

-It's supposed to stay dry.

-It's meant to stay dry

0:52:060:52:08

tomorrow and then be wet on Friday.

0:52:080:52:12

We've finished our own, finished this for Thomas.

0:52:120:52:15

We have one more to bail tomorrow,

0:52:150:52:16

a field to bail tomorrow and then, that's it. Finished.

0:52:160:52:19

TV IN BACKGROUND

0:52:430:52:46

VOICE OF AUCTIONEER

0:52:540:52:56

At 260, 260, 260, 260.

0:53:080:53:12

AUCTION CONTINUES

0:53:120:53:13

No, I love sale days. You get to meet folk and have a bit of chat.

0:53:160:53:21

No, it's good. Skiving, it's called, really.

0:53:210:53:24

-REPEATS:

-102, 102, 102, 102.

0:53:240:53:26

105, 105, 105.

0:53:300:53:33

108, 110.

0:53:330:53:35

110, 112, 114, 116.

0:53:350:53:38

116, 118, 120.

0:53:380:53:41

120, 120, 120.

0:53:410:53:44

AUCTION CONTINUES

0:53:440:53:47

It's done.

0:53:520:53:53

HE WHISTLES AND CALLS

0:53:590:54:01

Threes and four crop.

0:54:050:54:06

Three and four crop now. Three and four crop.

0:54:110:54:13

VOICE OF AUCTIONEER

0:54:150:54:17

AUCTION CONTINUES

0:54:290:54:31

Hold up, you're pinching a bit there now, Stuart.

0:54:460:54:48

There'll be dearer shearings than that.

0:54:480:54:50

This is double, isn't it? Yes, it's doubled.

0:54:520:54:55

-Thank you, Stuart.

-Thank you.

0:54:550:54:58

We're very happy with that, yes.

0:54:580:55:00

We're smiling.

0:55:000:55:02

It doesn't happen very often.

0:55:020:55:04

No. It's good.

0:55:040:55:06

AUCTION CONTINUES

0:55:060:55:08

BRASS BAND PLAYS

0:55:200:55:21

APPLAUSE

0:56:170:56:19

Right, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to start presenting the cups.

0:56:440:56:47

For the hay, which was a very strong class,

0:56:470:56:49

the Trevor Hutchinson Hay Shields, AM Walton.

0:56:490:56:52

APPLAUSE

0:56:520:56:54

Three stems of any flower, of any annual flower,

0:56:550:56:58

Michael Hedley.

0:56:580:57:00

Local classes. Aged Tup.

0:57:020:57:04

The Farmers Finance Tankard, donated by JS Thomson,

0:57:040:57:07

TW Hutchinson.

0:57:070:57:09

Local Gimmer Shearling,

0:57:100:57:12

the Rough Rigg Cup, donated by Martin and Milly Hill,

0:57:120:57:16

TW Hutchinson.

0:57:160:57:17

Local Gimmer Lamb, the RI Scott and Sons Cup,

0:57:200:57:23

TW Hutchinson.

0:57:230:57:25

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

0:57:250:57:27

Local Pair Of Tup Lambs, the Brumwell Cup,

0:57:270:57:30

donated D Orton,

0:57:300:57:31

TW Hutchinson.

0:57:310:57:33

The Westernhope Rose Bowl,

0:57:330:57:35

TW Hutchinson.

0:57:350:57:36

Local Champion Female,

0:57:370:57:39

the Middleton Auction Mart Female Cup,

0:57:390:57:41

TW Hutchinson.

0:57:410:57:44

Local Champion Sheep,

0:57:440:57:46

TW Hutchinson.

0:57:460:57:47

APPLAUSE

0:57:500:57:52

-We've got 14 sheep and we've got ten trophies.

-Ten trophies.

0:57:530:57:57

Yow was Reserve Supreme Champion and she was District Champion,

0:58:020:58:06

and we got Male District Champion as well.

0:58:060:58:09

We won the tup lambs, the old tups, gimmer shearlings, gimmer lamb.

0:58:090:58:13

For our little few sheep, we've done very, very well.

0:58:160:58:18

It's just the being involved, you know, and competing.

0:58:210:58:24

We don't expect to win anything,

0:58:240:58:27

and it's all very nice when you do win something.

0:58:270:58:30

We're just in desperate, desperate need of a lot of money,

0:58:300:58:33

and that would solve a lot of problems.

0:58:330:58:35

We might be able to sort all sorts of things out

0:58:350:58:38

if we were just millionaires, but...

0:58:380:58:40

That's so we can buy a nice swale tup.

0:58:400:58:43

-Yeah.

-Nothing else.

-Yeah.

0:58:440:58:47

HE CONDUCTS AUCTION

0:58:470:58:49

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