Yesterday we made our annual pilgrimage to Masham in the Yorkshire Dales. A whole town turned over to sheep – for a whole weekend! Sheep steeplechasing, dancing sheep, fleece sales…. what’s not to love!
And just like last year, the sun shone down for us. Here you can see the sheep pens covering the market square:
And Morris Men at rest:
And at work:
We saw geese being herded (one escaped):
But this is what I came for. On the hoof…
…And on the fleece sale stall:
Add to that, dancing sheep, a sheep steeplechase, (you can BET on!), craft stalls, plenty of fleece for sale…. you get a grand day out.
I came home with my booty – technically my birthday present from earlier in the week so no guilt involved – some handmade soap, and a black Shetland fleece with incredibly fine, crimpy fibre, and a white Ryeland shearling fleece enough to make a lifetime’s supply of Monmouth caps for the re-enactors in my life.
We rounded off the day at Leyburn and then Aysgarth.
As per last year the Sunday of Sheep fair was wet! still we lesser breed folk are a stalwart lot. Nice to hear that Ryeland fleece has an exciting future!
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I recently stayed with my mum and daughter in a small village in Coverdale, but it wasn’t till afterwards that I learnt about the sheep fair in Masham. We’re hoping to go again next year, but this time I’m going to time it so we can visit the sheep fair – it looks great.
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