The Farmers Mart Dec-Jan 2018 - Issue 54 | Page 53

SHEEP 53 • DEC/JAN 2018 built on top of a hill in the middle of a peat bog, and the excavation highlighted just how harsh the living conditions were, as well providing an idea to the scale of the machinery used to construct the railway. “Britain’s contribution to world history was the industrial revolution and yet we know so little about the lives of the men, women and children who did the actual work.” One of the most fascinating finds discovered during his ca- reer were the remains of a sorting (drafting) race which dated from around 1500 BC, used for diving sheep into groups. The size of the race of about 15 metres and showed it was used to process a large number of animals It also indicated that farming during the Bronze age was quite intensive. “It debunked the myth that all pre-Roman farmers were small scale peasants who did ‘subsist- ence farming’ on a very small scale- say two house cows and a half dozen sheep.” Sheep flocks were much larger than previously thought during the Bronze Age, with some farms running herds of over 1,000 animals. Francis began sheep farming in 1980, after buying a small farm house, starting small with half a dozen Suffolk ewes. That kept him and his family supplied with lamb for the freezer, as well as earn- ing an extra income selling the surplus lambs at Melton Mowbray market. This continued until 1995 when they relocated to their current property, which came with 40 acres of pasture land. This prompted him to increase the flock to around 80 ewes. Cur- rently he’s running Lleyns, which are registered with the Llewyn society. “We chose the breed because they are very economical, they have better resistance to foot problems than many breeds, are very prolific (once we had sex- tuplets) and because they have fine wool and are good milkers. So, what is there not to like about them? They also cross well with terminal sires, such as Suffolks, Charolais and Texels.” ‘ Sheep flocks were much larger than previously thought during the Bronze Age, with some farms running herds of over 1,000 animals. ’ Over the years he’s worked with Soays and Shetland sheep both breeds originate from Scotland. He found Soays could be quite a difficult breed to work with, mainly because they could be quite flighty, but contra ry to popular myth they can be herded. Shetlands on the other hand were much easier to manage, produc- ing superb wool and even better meat. Soay sheep originate from the remote islands of Soay and Hirta, just off the northwest coast of Scotland, where they’ve sur- vived as a stranded and isolated population for thousands of years, completely unmanaged by man. They’re believed to have descended from primitive Bronze Age flocks. One of the worst periods in his farming life was in 2001 when his then herd caught foot rot after lending a tup to a neighbour. It took four years to clear up the mess and involved a lot of culling. Now they run a strictly closed flock to avoid such contamination occurring again. Since retiring from field ar- chaeology, writing full time has become his main occupation, these days he’s involvement in archaeology is indirectly through writing books on the subject. Also, two years ago at the age of 70 he decided to down scale his flock of 80 ewes, and 50 over wintered gimmers to just 35 ewes with 20 gimmers. More recently he’s start- ed writing novels, starting his first in the final two seasons of Time Team. At the time he was finding it difficult to concentrate on writing non-fiction for number of reasons, and started work on his first novel The Lifers Club. “I found it impossible to concen- trate on nonfiction in the evening, when I had spare time in the hotel. So, I started to write The Lifers Club. I soon found it addictive!” Having written two novels based around his literary charac- ter Alan Cadbury, and planning his third in the series, he’s keep- ing very busy in his retirement. “I plan to write a third crime novel and maybe more after that, depending on the survival of my hero, Alan Cadbury. I hope he doesn’t get badly injured. Unfortunately, he has acquired a life of his own. Whatever happens to Alan, I shall continue to write nonfiction. I already have at least two books planned.” Over his varied and distin- guished career, the accomplish- ment he’s most proud of is the excavation of a 5000-year-old ‘ One of the most fascinating finds discovered during his career were the remains of a sorting (drafting) race which dated from around 1500 BC, used for diving sheep into groups ’ meeting place, known as a cause- wayed enclosure. They plotted the exact position of every find, and this was done before the use of GPS technology. “We plotted the exact position of every find, long before GPS, and this allowed other archaeol- ogists to re-interpret our original ideas. That’s how knowledge normally advances; in steps. The Einstein’s and Newtons are the exception, rather than the rule.”