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.”