It is a relentlessly wet day in Eskdale. I have aquaplaned my car on the way to the farm, and hide under the boot lid getting my waterproofs on, ready for the viewing. When a tenant in a National Trust hill farm retires or leaves, the sheep are “viewed” in order to value them and assess their condition. To that end, the landlord’s flock is hefted to the fell. Some of the sheep belong to the trust and are provided as part of the tenancy, so that any new tenant – in this case a young shepherd from the valley – can start their own farm business without huge investment. The remainder of the sheep belong to the outgoing tenant and must be valued fairly for sale.
Both tenants and the National Trust have two viewers acting for them. Once the viewers have inspected the sheep, they retire to the barn to discuss the value, while the rest of us wait patiently in a trailer as the rain hammers the aluminium roof.
Words float out of the barn on the wind, and I catch the odd phrase – “powerful sheep, nicely put together”, “a good sheep”. The National Trust estate manager gets out the documentation from 1980, when the flock was last valued (one of today’s valuers was there then, along with Tom Storey, who was Beatrix Potter’s shepherd).
The sheep’s condition is agreed to be the same as 1980 and everyone signs the soggy paperwork. The valuation papers are stacked on a clipboard; when the wind blows I can see signatures of shepherds from generations long past as the pages flip up. The value of the sheep is also agreed. Soon will be the Herdwick Sheep Breeders’ Association sales – then we will be able to judge whether today’s valuations are accurate.
As I drive away, in the rearview mirror I catch sight of the young couple who will be making this their home, walking back to look at the sheep again. It’s a new chapter for the farm, but it’s part of a very long story, and part of what makes the Lake District a world heritage site.
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