Shepherd's Delight

The weather may still be cold and dreary but the start of lambing season is a sign that spring is on its way. Keri Jordan welcomes the woolly arrivals and looks at how the ancient art of shepherding is faring in the county.

- Keri Jordan

I ENJOY GLORIOUS AUTUMNAL DAYS when the trees are a riot of colour. I enjoy a bracing winter walk across frosty fields followed by a pub lunch next to a crackling log fire, I really do. I would simply like to enjoy them for a few weeks less each year.

Because for me, nothing compares to the budding promise of spring, when the first green shoots peek through the soil, colour slowly creeps into the garden and there’s the lure of longer, brighter and warmer days on the horizon. Then there’s revitilisation in the animal kingdom, with new life entering the world. So it’s with great excitement and anticipation every spring that I look forward to lambing season.

As usual, I’ll be one of the first in the flock heading to various lambing events occurring in the county. An opportunity to see a lamb being born and perhaps to bottle-feed a new arrival both indulges my love of animals and my desire to be at one with nature, and it seems I’m not the only one with a burgeoning fascination for farming at this time of year.

Andrew Wolfe, chief executive at Willows Activity Farm in London Colney, near St Albans, regularly sees between 15,000 and 18,000 visitors during its main lambing event. ‘People are becoming increasingly interested in farming and where their food comes from,’ he explains. ‘As we move towards living in more urban environments, it’s great that families are encouraging their children to learn about animals and the traditional practices of farming that have been around for centuries.’