Wycoller Shetlands

Where are Wycoller shetlands?

Wycoller is a small hamlet nestled into the Lancashire side of the English Pennines. The village is in Bronte country and the ruined hall is reputed to be Ferndean Hall from Jane Eyre. Haworth is approximately 8 miles away on the Yorkshire side of the border.

Wycoller Christmas 1999, packhorse bridge, aisled barn and inside barn (the scene of our Y2K village party).

The farm runs to 1000 feet and is on the valley side and derives it's name, Raven's Rock, from the large outcrop of rocks just in front of the farm as you approach. There are three possible derivations of the name:

• after the Viking standard (a raven), the site of the farm may have been used as a vantage point having excellent views both down Wycoller valley and more importantly into one of the main gaps between Yorkshire and Lancashire. Local history books do mention Vikings in the area along the bottom of Boulsworth Moor, which the farm almost adjoins
• due to the black colour of the rock, which is millstone grit - my least popular theory
• after the birds that nested on the cliff edges.

The farmhouse appears to have been built in 1755 by a William L Shackleton and there is an existing date stone. However the authenticity of the stone must be questionable, it has certainly been moved over the years as the house has been extended.

Wycoller is famous for it's bridges and vaccary walls. The latter are large stone slabs stood on end that marked the limits of the medieval cattle farm in the area. In one of our fields that is a stone slab built into the wall with a carved mark on it, that is probably an old land boundary.

The area is now a country park operated by Lancashire County Council, and the park surrounds our farm on three sides. There are around 250,000 visitors per annum, and fortunately we are high enough up the hillside to miss the casual trippers, the village is also not accessible by visitor's cars.

This is true sheep country and is a mixture of inbye land (improved land) and open moor. Winters are poor, very wet with some snow that stays. Only hardy sheep can survive and thrive.

The Wycoller flock is around 30 breeding ewes all registered with the SSBG. The emphasis is on good wool quality, but not to the exclusion of tails, conformation etc. There are some white sheep, but predominantly coloured sheep are kept with a recent emphasis on blacks.

Shetland ewe and Ryland x lamb about 2 days old.

A pure bred Shetland lamb about 1 week old.

The farm was originally 60 acres, but has been broken up over the years and we now have 10 and half acres.

Lambs are not bred from in line with the practice in this area. This allows them to carry on growing better in the harsh conditions.

Stock rams are now scrapie genotype tested and I am working towards a scrapie resistant flock. The two rams used in the 96/97 breeding season were a Drum ram with a standard scrapie resistance and a Wycoller ram that is highly resistant with an RR result. These rams were used again in 1997/98. In 1998/99 I used the Wycoller ram again and Wycoller David, a moorit with superb fleece who is also RR ie group1.

In 1999/2000 I used a black Drum ram (not the same as the earlier one). In the summer of 1999 at the Border Union Show I had placed this ram lamb as champion. I then bought him at the RBST Show and Sale at Stoneleigh in the autumn. He is solid black and has more fleece on him than many of my other sheep. However he's not a "big" Shetland.

Visitors are always welcome, but please telephone in advance (01282 863077).

A homebred shearling ram was champion at the SSBG Northern Show in July 1997 and his mother (Wycoller Anita) was champion at the same show in 1995. In 1998 a wycoller fleece was reserve overall champion in the fleece section at the Great Yorkshire Show.

Wycoller Shetlands
Raven's Rock Farm
Wycoller
Colne
Lancashire
BB8 8SX
UK
Tel : 01282 863077