lookerers

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Volunteer shepherds

Maria Caulfield with sheep

Most of our downland sites are on the edge of the city so we need to make more regular checks on our sheep than might be necessary if they were grazing in the wider countryside.

If the shepherd had to make all of these checks it would take up a large amount of time and make grazing many small sites impractical. We have therefore been recruiting volunteer shepherds, or lookerers, to help keep an eye on our sheep.

Please note that due to the success of the "lookering" scheme (we now have 83 trained lookerers) we are not currently accepting applications for new lookerers. We anticipate reopening the waiting list in the summer in advance of next winters grazing although we will be targeting sites where we have less lookerers.

Lookerers need to be able to:

  • get around on quite steep uneven slopes, as that is where the sheep graze
  • be available in the winter months - we normally graze our sites in the winter so that the sheep do not eat the flowers!
  • spare around one hour a week while the sheep are on site.
  • have a mobile phone so that you can receive any updates on the sheep, phone in your report and contact us in case of emergency
  • attend a lookering course so that you know what to look for.
  • commit to checking the sheep and making a report when you have agreed to or make sure another lookerer will..

The training is free and consists of a one day course at Stanmer covering:

Theory
  • Conservation grazing - why we graze
  • The shepherds year - what happens when
  • Common sheep ailments - what might happen
  • Sheep and the law
Practical
  • How to handle a sheep. Though you do not have to be able to do this to be a lookerer
  • Installing and maintaining electric sheep netting. Part of the daily check will be to make sure the fence is fine.

Once lookerers are trained they will be asked when they are available for the period when the sheep are on site. They are then allocated times on a rota when they are responsible for checking the sheep. A check should not take more than an hour and does not have to be at an exact time, usually morning or afternoon is specified.

Urban flocks: Brighton's new shepherds, The Times, 4 January 2010

Urban shepherds spend spare time watching the flocks mow the grass, The Times, 21 November 2009

Brighton chouchoute ses moutons ecolos , Monde, 15 November 2009

Life of the urban shepherd, Daily Mail, 9 November 2009

Volunteers flock to help sheep grazing, The Guardian, 28 October 2009


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