LAST week saw us spean (wean) the lambs.

They were in good fettle and very clean.

The ewes at this time are put in an enclosure in front of the house with the lambs driven into some parkland over a mile away, it will make for a noisy night or two as the ewes can make a fair racket calling for their absent lambs.

Although one or two determined ones may jump walls and creep under fences trying to rejoin their mothers, they soon settle down in their new quarters.

At this time the whole flock is dipped against fly strike which, although late in the season, can still prove to be a problem.

I'll return to saying a bit more about modern dips later.

Last week's speaning would be about a week later than we used to do it but that is of no consequence.

I remember in the seventies a farmer who was visiting the area from down south asking me when we "took the lambs off?" I recall telling him "weather permitting, on the 13th of August".

He said "That's' very precise; is there a particular traditional reason for using August 13th?" I said "Well yes and no.

Tenant farmers were not supposed to gather the fells for two or three weeks prior to August 12th for fear of disturbing the grouse and having them fly off, for of course August 12th is the start of the grouse shooting season and in those days our landlord had an organised shoot." Incidentally, before I get a shoal of letters, let it be known I have never shot at a grouse in my life.

I'll tell you why we tried to dip and spean lambs on August 13th as I explained to the visiting farmer, the shoot took place on August 12th when beaters "drove" the fell so that the grouse were turned in to fly over the "guns".

The noise and the bustle made the sheep run into bunches and groups so that when we went up the fell in the evening the sheep were much easier to gather as they had been "grouped up for us.

It made for a bit less effort from the dogs as they did not tire so quickly.

Now the fell is not "shot" so the 13th is not so important.

Where it took three of us with up to six dogs to gather, our son John can manage himself on the quad bike with one dog following and two keeping fresh in a cage on the back of the bike.

I always used to reckon the gather for clipping was the most difficult one of all, because at that time, namely the beginning of July, the sheep were full of wool and had lambs with them and they were also likely to be very hot.

Also, the bracken was tall and at the first sound of dogs and shepherds some of the sheep would creep into the bracken and hide.

However, you managed to get most of them and then in a few days you gathered again for the "stragglers" before you turned the flock back to the fell.

It was good to see the ewe lambs, the progeny of the Swaledale sheep that escaped the kill or the cull because they were wintering in Lancashire.

These ewe lambs will be the first step towards rebuilding the flock to what it was before foot-and-mouth.

Meanwhile, there is a flock of North Country Cheviots dealing with the grazing.

These will be run down in favour of home-bred Swaledales in the fullness of time.

As I' ve said before, our family will restock gradually either because of or in spite of government policy.

Dialect word: Gavelock meaning an iron crowbar.

Thought for the day: Any success comes from daring to begin.