The Mariners Flock
The Mariners Flock consists of a mixture of Romney / Romney crosses, pedigree Romneys and Herdwicks - and Snowy, our black sheep (every family should have one!).
The Romneys
The Mariners Flock of pedigree Romneys was registered in 2012, marking an exciting development for the farm. We have always used a quality, pure-bred Romney ram on our Romney and cross-bred ewes which form the foundation of the flock. We recently added some pedigree ewes / tegs as more grazing became available locally and are building a nucleus of quality ewes as we expand the flock. We retain our original stock however, descendants of our original ewes bought 20 years ago, and are aiming to grade these much-valued lines up to pedigree status. Apart from buying in rams, we hope now to keep the flock closed.
The Romney is the native breed of Kent (sometimes also called the Kent sheep) and does very well on our downland pasture. A versatile breed with high rates of twinning and producing good meat and wool, it does very well commercially.
The Romney is the native breed of Kent (sometimes also called the Kent sheep) and does very well on our downland pasture. A versatile breed with high rates of twinning and producing good meat and wool, it does very well commercially.
The Herdys
The Herdwick comes from the North West of England and is the breed that Beatrix Potter was instrumental in saving. They have a very different character to the Romney, being much wilder and more reactive. This is something that needs to be taken into consideration when handling or moving them. They tend to stick together and the breed characteristic of hefting (staying in one area) is evident even in relatively small fields - they tend to stay at the furthest corner, as far away from everything as possible! Interestingly the lambs seem to follow their mums less than in other breeds and sit in one place while mum goes off to graze, almost like a calf. We have half a dozen Herdwick ewes and a ram, Harry. Like the Tamworth is for pork, the Herdwick has been scientifically demonstrated to be the tastiest of lamb.