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At Borough Farm, on North Devon's rugged, spectacular coast, David Kennard and his dogs are embarking on a new shepherding year. Part diary, part Herriot-like homage to the countryside and its characters, this book is a portrait of a real life. Kennard presents twelve months with his working sheepdogs as they face a never-ending series of challenges: from rescuing ewes stranded on the Atlantic cliffs to running the gauntlet of psychopathic rams and officious farm inspectors, from spring lambing and summertime shearing to fending off the ever-present threats nature has in store for the 850-strong flock. All this, in the midst of a harsh economic climate for farming and a landscape that is among the most picturesque, yet wildly unpredictable, in the British Isles. As he follows the changing seasons, he also offers a meditation on man's relationship with his environment, and an elegy to a rural way of life.--From publisher description.Traces a year in the life of an English shepherd and his working collies, describing his efforts to safeguard his charges along the Atlantic cliffs, in an account that also pays tribute to the author's relationship with his canine companions.
