A Shepherd's Watch

At Borough Farm, on the spectacularly beautiful North Devon coast, David Kennard and his dogs are embarking on a new shepherding year.

The twelve months ahead will present David and his sheepdogs Greg, Swift, Gail, Fern and Ernie with a never-ending series of challenges: from spring lambing and summertime shearing to rescuing ewes stranded on the Atlantic cliffs and fending off the ever-present threats nature – and the occasional officious farm inspector – has in store for the 850-strong flock.

David Kennard paints an honest and affectionate, often drily comic picture of a year in the life of a sheep farm and its very different canine and human personalities. Part diary of one man and his remarkable dogs, part Herriot-like homage to the countryside and its characters, A Shepherd’s Watch is that rare thing: a portrait of a real life that is at once authentic and evocative, warm and compelling.