For those travelling through Southern England, one of the defining elements of this county are sheep, as well as the landscape itself! Or as our guide Mike from Rye and Winchelsea said in a lovely way: “England in spring is green with white dots on it: Lush green meadows everywhere and millions of sheep on them!”.
Yes, that’s exactly how it is! There are over 60 breeds of sheep in the British Isles, and at the end of 2012, the head count was around 23 million. This is actually low compared to the beginning of the 1990s, when there were about 45 million sheep in the country. England would hardly be imaginable today without its sheep of times gone by. For centuries, the wool trade brought enormous prosperity to the country and was by far the most important economic sector. Even today, a woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords Chamber.
Events based on this tradition, such as, for example, the „Woolsack Race“ in Tetbury are also amusing.
Thinking back to the suppliers of these once so valuable goods (and other fine things such as much-loved lamb to eat), they are so ubiquitous and blend harmoniously with the gentle rolling landscape. They are usually really cute to look at, very curious, sometimes loud, cheeky, and often tempt the photographer to take far too many pictures of them! In some places, such as the former „Seven Sisters Sheep Centre“ you can cuddle them or bottle-feed newborns which have been rejected by their mother.
Here are just a few (actually a few too many) impressions of this green land of white sheep beyond the blue waters:
Lambs on the Dorset Jurassic Coast (Jurassic Coast)
‚Hello you!‘
‚Where is mummy with my milk? Not here? Is she with you?‘
‚Marvellous!‘
‚Yes, just watch closely how it’s done!‘
‚Home time now. Come on!‘
‚I am number 80 – who are you?‘
‚Mum, I want a cuddle!‘
*Oh, a human over there – doesn’t he look funny?‘
‚Rugged? But that’s the fashion this year!‘
