Castlemilk Moorit Dodgson Wood

Shepherds Maria Benjamin and John Atkinson raise this rare breed in the Lake District. Rachel Atkinson met them

- Rachel Atkinson

LAST YEAR at Yarndale, a family visited my stand and got chatting about sheep, fleece and the price of wool. As we exchanged business cards, I was surprised to see the name of my father, John Atkinson, printed on it - and so I had met another shepherd called John Atkinson!

Together, John and his partner Maria tend Nibthwaite Grange Farm in the Lake District. John is the sixth-generation owner, although his farming family can be traced back to when local records began some 600 years ago, to within three miles of the current farm. In contrast, Maria is a relative newcomer, having joined John full time on the farm four years ago.

Nibthwaite Grange is mainly a beef and sheep farm focussing on conservation grazing, and so John and Maria keep traditional and native sheep breeds, which are lighter and graze less selectively. John mainly shepherds Cheviot sheep on the fell, and some Bluefaced Leicesters.