Grazer of the Week this week is Dorothy the Herdwick. Dorothy grazes the amazing Great Orme near Llandudno. We have been reliably informed by her shepherd Dan Jones that only the troublemakers get names!
The 145-acre farm was bought by the National Trust in 2015. It came with grazing rights for the Great Orme. Dan Jones is the tenant on the farm, renting for just £1 a year. This rent enables him to farm in a way that produces food whilst also protecting the rare wildlife that inhabits the Great Orme.
360 species of wildflower grow here on the Great Orme. These include spiked speedwell, hoary rock rose and the Great Orme berry which grows nowhere else on earth. Following the Foot and Mouth crisis, large areas became overgrown with scrub. The rare flora was threatened by under grazing.
Dorothy, pictured here with her two lambs, and 600 other sheep were bought for the farm by Plantlife Cymru. Dan uses traditional shepherding techniques to sympathetically graze the 720 acre coastal headland, increasing the habitat for these rare plants and preventing the spread of non-native cotoneasters.
If you are interested in starting a conservation grazing project such as this, please contact PONT Cymru.