Farming life in the Cotswolds with the Countryfile presenter

Mention August and thoughts immediately turn to the long school break, vacations, stay-cations and lazy days down at the beach. But not everyone’s on their hols, and it’s actually one of the busiest and most important times of the whole year for the men and women who care for one of my favourite rare breeds. The Whiteface Dartmoor sheep is a hard-as-nails breed which has adapted to survive on those famously exposed, inhospitable uplands. As their name suggests, they have clean white faces as well as a thick protective fleece and the rams sport a pair of marvellous spiral horns which look like the handlebars on a racing bike. The very best of the breed will be primped and preened ready for judging at the annual Whiteface Dartmoor Show and Sale in Exeter on Friday, August 26.

We went for almost four decades without any of these lovely sheep at the Cotswold Farm Park, but in 2009 I decided it was time to put that right and bought sixteen Whitefaces from a wonderful man called Colin Pearce. I had the perfect companion with me and someone with more than a passing interest in the breed. Our livestock manager, Mike Caunter, is a descendant of the first President of the breeders’ association, Cecil Caunter. So taking Mike with me to buy our first Whiteface Dartmoors was a no-brainer… and I think Colin appreciated it too. On moorland farms like Colin’s and in the villages round about, the sheep are called Widecombe Whitefaces, after the moorland village that promotes itself as ‘The Heart of Dartmoor.’ Every year thousands of tourists are attracted to its inns and cafés, the busy market and an impressive church that’s known as the ‘Cathedral of the Moors.’ But what the village is most famous for is the folk song, Widecombe Fair:

Tom Pearse, Tom Pearse, lend me your grey mare,
All along, down along, out along, lee,
For I want for to go to Widecombe Fair,
With Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney,
Peter Davy, Dan'l Whiddon, Harry Hawke,
Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all,
Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all.

It’s one of the country’s best known traditional songs, and the last line has become part of our everyday lingo. As for Widecombe Fair, well that’s real enough and is still going strong after 200 years. I was there in 2016 and loved every second of the carnival atmosphere of Devon’s special day. I can also confirm, first hand, that Widecombe Whitefaces have been shown and sold at the fair. But what about Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer and the rest of the motley cast, including Old Uncle Tom Cobley, of course? Surely, they’re fictitious names, made up to fit the tune.

Apparently not.

The legendary Devon countryman, entertainer and broadcaster, the late Tony Beard, was certain the characters were real after meticulously researching the county archives. Tony was known as ‘The Wag from Widecombe’ and believed the song was based on an actual event which happened in 1802. ‘The name Thomas Cobley was very popular and the one who fits the best died in 1844, aged 82 years,’ he once revealed. ‘We found relations of Thomas Cobley still alive, and went around lots of churchyards in mid-Devon and found Davys, Gurneys, Pearses and Stewers.’

If you want to hear the song performed in its authentic setting, and see some fine Widecombe Whitefaces at the same time, this year’s Fair is on Tuesday, September 13. Keep your eyes peeled for Uncle Tom Cobley, too!

Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamHenson

Cotswold Farm Park, 01451 850307; cotswoldfarmpark.co.uk