Out & About July 2017

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Iam sat around the table drinking tea with
Nigel and Karen Wernham as they recount
the latest lambing tale and explain how
they had to play midwife this morning.
They’ve probably had about as much sleep
in the past week as most of us had last night,
grabbing power naps when they can, but you
wouldn’t know it to look at them.
Despite the trials and tribulations of life as a
farmer during lambing time, it’s clear that the
couple love what they do.
“These three to four weeks are hard work at
the moment,” Nigel explains. “We just catch
sleep when we can, as it’s 24 hours a day
when we’re lambing.
“We’ve had 35 ewes lamb this year so far and
only needed to help two or three.”
And one of those two or three was this
morning, when Karen calmly recalls how she
helped deliver the baby lamb.
“You can interfere too early sometimes so
we have to let them get on with it as best
they can and then just help at the end if
necessary,” she says.
This year’s lambs are extra special too, as
they are born in the 40th year of lambing at
the farm in Stockcross.
Just like the lambs we later watch gambolling
around the fields, Nigel was born and bred at
the farm, which his father took on in 1958.
Initially it farmed pigs and cattle, but, in 1976,
Nigel went to help out a local shepherd
during lambing and says it made him realise
that was his calling in life.
“The first ewe I ever lambed had five lambs,”
he recalls.
Even Karen is shocked by this revelation that
has obviously never been shared before.
“I’ve never seen that since,” he says. “It was
at that point that I realised that was what I
should be doing.”
The following year, Nigel bought his first
sheep and he can still trace the lineage and
ancestry of every single lamb born at his
farm today.
At its peak the farm had 350 sheep; today
there are around 80. These are a mix of
pedigree Poll Dorset and Dorset Horns.
It seems that farming really does run through
this family’s veins, with two of their three
daughters taking on jobs in the industry.
Their eldest daughter Sophie is working as
a shepherdess in Bucklebury, looking after
1,400 ewes, while youngest daughter Zoe
has just finished her first year apprenticeship
as an assistant herdsperson in Hook,
Hampshire.
Second daughter Holly has chosen another
path, looking after children at a local nursery
rather than animals, but she is still very
much involved in the family farm, helping out
when she can.
Since the children have grown up, Karen
has been able to take a more hands-on
role at the farm too, but there can be some
downsides to it.
“I can’t remember the last time we had
a holiday,” she adds – still smiling. “It’s
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