Friday 30 January 2025

 All 38 accounted for & appeared well. Water trough full. Didn't see anyone else, nothing to report. 

Wednesday 28th January 2026

Another misty morning. 

I counted 20 wfw and 18 Shetland eventually, but today's count carries less certainly than usual. Most of the wfw  were in groups of half a dozen deep within sections of woodland in the south west, South East and along the eastern valley. Most Shetland were in the northern half but a few inter mingled with the wfw. The groups merged and split while I was still climbing through the woods,  the sheep are quicker than me on the hill, and it was too misty to see clearly from the top.

All looked healthy. There is a dead deer in the middle of the compartment.  ///allies.applied.ruling

51°5.565'N, 1°34.860'W

Somebody has been folding back in climbing through the southern fence that goes out towards the foot path here https://w3w.co/ombudsman.saying.lunge

Monday 26th January

 Found all 38 sheep (3 WFW at 2nd search)and all looked fit and healthy :-

WFW either in valley on the Eastern side or close to the Southern gate,

Shetlands either at the bottom or centrally on the main slope.

Water troughs are both full (Sheep nuts not checked as probably still in Central Compartment).

All fences are fine and the gates themselves are fine, but the Livestock sign on the NW gate is on the wrong side and there is no Livestock sign on the SW gate (here the Chemicals sign was on the floor).

Just after I left the Eastern Comapartment a woman approached the Southern gate with 2 dogs on a lead and 2 dogs off the lead, but they followed me and did not enter the Eastern Compartment.

I also spotted my first (at Broughton) Muntjac Deer crossing the Clarendon Way. I see them regularly around Winterslow but have not seen one at Broughton before.

Sunday 25th January

Happy to report that all 38 sheep are present and in the correct compartment. The water trough is functioning and full. We did not see the nuts but did not need them. 

Pippa   pp. Keith & Sue Stevens

Saturday - Staff Visit

I've repaired the fence into the yew enclosure, thanks to those that reported it. All 38 sheep present, up and moving 👍

Before

After

Thanks everyone!

Andy 

Friday 23 January 2026

3 Shetland and 8 Whiteface were high up in the hollow to the east side of the compartment with the remaining 15 Shetland down by the north fence. 11 Whiteface were spread out to the western side of the compartment however one Whiteface was in the fenced off section of yew trees to the lower section of the hill. I found that the fence to the north side of this area has been damaged by a fallen tree allowing the sheep to jump over the fence. The Whiteface diid eventually jump back before I left.

No walkers or dogs in the compartment all gates and other fences appear ok.

Plenty of water in trough and food in bucket.

Wednesday 21 January

All 38 sheep found, look ok but a bit miserable in the rain, shaking themselves like Labradors. Easy to find in one circuit of the compartment, as there is little cover, which doesn't impress the sheep looking for shelter. 

Gates ok, but the only entrance with a sign is south eastern one. The danger chemicals sign on the south gate between Eastern and central has now completely fallen off, but I don't know where it is supposed to be displayed. 

No walkers, not on a day like this! Hot coffee calls me.

Tuesday - 20th Jan - Staff check and sheep move

All 38 okay and moved to the Eastern compartment. They will most likely be on here for another 4-6 weeks before coming off-site.

Apologies if my last post wasn't clear - I was hoping to wait until sheep were in the Eastern compartment and then have the gate shut behind them - which is why I have moved them into that compartment today.

Thanks all!

Andy

Monday 19th January

 Found all 38 sheep in the Central Compartment and all look healthy.

15 (14 WFW and 1 Shetland) towards the Eastern fence,

The other 23 on the Western side either on the downs or (5 shetlands) in the bushes at the bottom of the downs.

Water troughs full, Sheep Nuts about 15% full.

No dogs or walker seen.

Sign on SE gate about chemicals is bent over so you have to be interested to read it, could do with a tac into the gate post.

Saturday 17th January

All present and correct. They were all in the middle compartment apart from one.  Thank you for supplying the gate code, the lone sheep was waiting by the gate saying he wanted to be with his mates! He sauntered though with great expectations of me to ‘get on with it”.

Pippa   pp. Chris & Debs Barlow

Friday 16th January

 All 38 sheep easy to spot (for once!) spread as they were on the 2 open slopes in Central. No sign of any limping when we gently disturbed each one. I've padlocked the gate into the Eastern side as per Andy's instructions. No walkers, nothing else to report. Lovely to see some sun & hear the birds celebrating it!

Sam

Wednesday 14th January

  Time 15:10   A villager has reported to me about a Shetland sheep that is limping. Front left leg.

   Pippa

He sent me this by email:

 The what 3 words are - ///backup.corner.earpiece

I have had to upload the video to YouTube so you can easily view it as it is too big to send on emails!

Injured Sheep Video

Wednesday 14th January 2026

All sheep accounted for, although it took awhile. 13 wfw and one Shetland  in the eastern compartment: in the valley and in the hillside. In central compartment they were in the middle: on the hillside and towards the troughs. All look okay, troughs ok (I removed ice from the Eastern compartment trough but the central ones were ice free). Gates ok, no visitors.

Tuesday 13th Jan - Fence Repaired and Sheep Move

Thanks to those that reported the rogue sheep in the Eastern compartment. There was an ash tree down on the fence - which we have now repaired.

Gate has also been opened between East and Central, so 38 sheep have access to both. If anyone is doing their rounds and find all 38 sheep in the East, please can you shut the gate so they cannot get back into the Central. Code is 1961 so you can padlock the chain around it.

Thanks team!

Monday 12th January

 Note: A tree has fallen across part of the fence between the Central Compartment and Eastern Compartment bringing it down for about 10-15m  (not far from the Southern boundary). So the sheep may be in either of these 2 compartments. Initially there was one WFW on the wrong side of the fence but on seeing me he came back into the Central Compartment when I spoke to him.

When I started the count I found all 38 sheep, 32 were out on the downland,  5 were close to the water troughs and 1 WFW was rubbing his horns against the fallen tree near the Northern boundary with the bark removed (I can see how the bark was removed now). All sheep looked healthy.

The water troughs were both full.

No dogs or walkers seen in the nature reserve.

All other fences are okay, no other fallen trees.

Ice in Troughs

Hi guys,

Thanks for your continued help out on-site, particularly given the colder weather.

This is just a reminder to please make sure you break the ice in the troughs and only remove the larger blocks. Letting the smaller ones melt within the trough prevents levels dropping and putting additional stress on the pump and ball cock.

Thanks team!

Andy

Saturday 10 January

Somehow the 3 escapees are back in the Central Compartment (!), all 20 Whiteface and 18 Shetland were found on the lower part of the slope grazing happily in the sun. All appear well with no obvious issues.

Gates were all ok , no walkers or dogs on the Down but quite a few walking up the hill from Buckholt Road when we were on the way down.

Dave & Carys Whitehouse

Friday 9 January 2026

I found 17 Shetlands lower down the slope close to the feed bucket (although I did not feed them) the other Shetland and 17 Whiteface were found adjacent to the fence with the Eastern compartment however 3 Whiteface were found on the opposite side of the fence actually in the Eastern compartment. I could not see any gaps or holes in the fences or issues with the gates so not sure how they have managed to get into this area?

No issues noted to any sheep , plenty of food in the bucket and no ice on the water troughs.

No walkers or dogs.

Wednesday 7th January 2026

All 38 sheep found, mostly on the hillside of the western and central parts of Central compartment, a few in amongst the trees. Water troughs were fine only one had partly refrozen since Tom cleared the ice out, thanks Tom! 

Gates fine except north west gate still has the sign on the wrong side. I haven't checked the southerly gate between Eastern and central compartment as the hill is treacherous with ice on both sides. No walkers, dogs, or for that matter foxes, observed.

Tuesday 6th January

Trough ice broken up today by Tom G.

Monday 5th January

 Beautiful crisp sunny day (-1.5C) with a dusting of snow !!

All 38 Sheep were across  the Eastern Half of the compartment, most in the sun and all looked well.

Water troughs were frozen, I broke the ice with a stick but at -1.5C I suspected it would refreeze.

Sheep Nuts are about 20% full.

Gates were fine except NW gate which was off the latch. The NW gate doesn't latch unless you pull it closed.

I also saw a fox that started on the edge of the central compartment and went off into the Eastern compartment, I assume this was because I was the only one around at 9.45 am this morning.

Sunday 4th January

 I eventually, found all 38 sheep and all looked in good shape. I had to break the ice on the water troughs and have left the big stick used on the troughs. I cleared some of the path leading down from the western most part of the downs (what three words https://w3w.co/brothers.mega.warriors).

Pippa    pp. Adrian Crossley

Saturday 3rd January

The sheep were all hidden in the shrubbery at the far end of the compartment which made them difficult to find, never mind count, but we eventually managed to count 20 white faced and 19 black faced sheep. They all looked in good shape. I broke the ice, which was pretty thick, on the water tanks too. I cleared some of the overgrowing shrubs on the path up front the eastern end of the the central compartment while making my way up the hill. The gates and signage all looked fine too. 

Pippa  pp. Adrian & Tina Crossley

Friday 2nd January 2026

 All 38 sheep pretty conveniently grouped on the slopes, no issues or dog walkers. Quickest count ever. Baldy's patch still evident. Sheep nuts almost empty (not that we indulged ourselves obvs!)