SOFT PLACES TO LAND: SHEEP TRIPS

Is March really going out like a lamb? After a long hard winter, we’re so in need of a soft landing! And lambing season is soon upon us. So, we set out to visit some new lambs.

If you want to watch as new lambs are born, then see them take their first shaky steps just 10 minutes later…  We’re sharing two beautiful places to get that joy: Iceland and England. Check them out below.

ENGLAND LAMBING

Rolling hills and green pastures, with just the right sunshine rain ratio to keep everything abundant, England has many beautiful spots to feel the ewe-mama love.

You can watch the glory happen from the sidelines, or put on your Wellies and lend a helping hand for a super-authentic experience.

For example, at Cannon Hall Farm, in South Yorkshire, mama sheep give birth to as many as 20 lambs a day, or about 800 in total each spring.

Visit Washbrooks Farm, in West Sussex, England, to see Dorset and rare Soay lambs frolic with their moms.

Feather Down Farms are located on real working farms nestled along England’s Jurassic Coast, in areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. You can stay in their tents, right in the middle of the beautiful countryside so you can see the ewes and lambs up close and personal.

Wambrook Farm, in the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is a mixed organic farm, with gorgeous 19th century barns and stables. You can camp in their pastures or stay at their charming farmhouse B&B during lambing season.

At Lovesome Hill Farm, in Northallerton, in North Yorkshire, England, you and your family can stay overnight and live with the farmers, John & Mary Pearson and their family, during lambing season. Help feed their Masham and Mule Sheep mamas and babes as you admire their beauty.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust helps to maintain a flock of gorgeous Hebridean sheep Each Spring, about 120 ewes produce super-cute lambs at Low Carr Farm, near Pickering, in Yorkshire.

United Kingdom’s National Trust publishes a Lambing List of gorgeous estates and land trusts across the country where you can visit to see the lambs make their debut each Spring, including Wimpole Hall, Arlington Court, Brockhampton Estate, Calke Abbey, and more.

Learn more about it here.

ICELANDIC LAMBING

Icelandic sheep have their own special beauty. It’s a joy to see them roam across the rustic landscapes. 

There are almost ½ million sheep in Iceland outnumbering the human population (325,000) by a good margin. In May and June, sheep numbers grow even larger, when the lambing season begins.

You won’t need to travel far outside of Reykjavík to see Icelandic sheep grazing in the highlands.

Or travel to Skagafjörður, in Northern Iceland, with SEEDS, where you can volunteer to work on a traditional Icelandic sheep farm 

The The Icelandic Farm Animals program gathers three farms located in Skagafjörður, where you can hang out with Icelandic sheep, as well as horses and goats.

Visit the Sölvanes traditional sheep farm, where you can stay in a cozy old farmhouse, eat homemade homegrown meals, and marvel at their herd of over 300 sheep. Enjoy the stunning views as ewes drop and tend their lambs.

And lambing season is lovely at Bjarteyjarsandur Farm, where more than 1,000 lambs are born each year in May. Visit the barn and its surroundings during this special time of year with personal guidance from the hosts. 

If you are looking to give a ewe a beautiful Mother’s Day present, consider these horn cozies above, knitted by the Knitting Circle members of West Iceland.

Read more about Soft Beauty all this week on BeautifulNow. And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: Courtesy of Cannon Hall Farms. Baby Lamb & Mom. South Yorkshire, England.
2. Image: by Gillian Day, of NTCalkeAbbey. Lambing Season at Calke. Derbyshire, England.
3. Image: Courtesy of My Mills Baby. Baby Lamb. England.
4. Image: Courtesy of Washbrooks Farms. Lambs. West Sussex, England.
5. Image: by Jeni Reid. Courtesy of Wovember. Twin Lambs. England.
6. Image: by Diane Ashworth. Cleaning Second Lamb. England.
7. Image: by Phil, of Cabinet of Curiosities. Early Spring in Weardale. A Mom and Her Twins. Weardale, England.
8. Image: Courtesy of ADK Travel. Stone Barn on the English Coast. Yorkshire, England.
9. Image: Courtesy of United Kingdom’s National Trust. Lambing at Wimpole Hall. Cambridge, England.
10. Image: Courtesy of Icelandic Farm Holidays. Hug a Lamb. Experience the Lambing Season. Iceland.
11. Image: by Federico Moroni. Vestur-Skaftafellssysla, Iceland.
12. Image: by Jutta. Icelandic Sheep. Iceland.
13. Image: by k.gharmaoui. Iceland.
14. Image: by Risto Kuulasmaa. Counting Sheeps.
15. Image: by Nico Kaiser. Schafe. Iceland.
16. Image: Courtesy of Esja Travel. Knitting Circle in West Iceland. A Knitter’s Destination. West Iceland.
17. Image: by Michael Ransburg. Icelandic Sheep. Iceland.
18. Image: Courtesy of Sherborne Flock. Dorset, England.
19. Image: by Jennifer Boyer. Grímsey. Grímsey, Iceland.