Main content
This programme will be available shortly after broadcast

1. Growing Up

Powerful account of James Rebanks's life as a traditional sheep farmer in the Lake District. Read by Bryan Dick.

Some people's lives are entirely their own creations. James Rebanks' isn't.

The first son of a shepherd, who was the first son of a shepherd himself, he and his family have lived and worked in and around the Lake District for generations.

It's a life lived according to the demands of the seasons.

Sheep are sent to the fells in the Summer and making the hay.

In Autumn flocks are replenished - followed by the gruelling toil of keeping the sheep alive.

Light-headedness comes with spring, as the lambs are born and the sheep get ready to return to the fells.

Through James's eyes, we see that the Lake District is not a playground or a scenic backdrop, it's a working landscape that needs sheep and its farmers to survive.

Abridged in five parts by Sian Preece.

Read by Bryan Dick.

Music: "The Nightshift", Country Escape, 成人快手 Production Music 成人快手PM031.

Producer: Kirsteen Cameron

First broadcast on 成人快手 Radio 4 in April 2015.

15 minutes

On radio

Monday 08:30

More episodes

Previous

You are at the first episode

See all episodes from The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks

Credits

Role Contributor
Reader Bryan Dick
Author James Rebanks
Abridger Sian Preece
Producer Kirsteen Cameron

Broadcasts

  • Mon 13 Apr 2015 09:45
  • Tue 14 Apr 2015 00:30
  • Mon 28 Mar 2016 14:45
  • Tue 29 Mar 2016 02:45
  • Mon 20 Jan 2020 14:45
  • Tue 21 Jan 2020 02:45
  • Monday 08:30
  • Monday 13:30
  • Monday 19:30
  • Tuesday 03:30

James Rebanks: On Your Farm

James Rebanks: On Your Farm

Caz Graham Caz joins James herding sheep back to the fells for summer.

The Shepherd's Life - Are Ewe A Shepherd at Heart?

Take our quiz and discover if you can tell your heft from your herd.

One shepherd and his beloved Herdwick sheep

James Rebanks reflects on the worldwide response to The Shepherd's Life.

James Rebanks: "People like us are married to the landscape"

James Rebanks: "People like us are married to the landscape"

James Rebanks on his connection to the land and the farmers that went before him

Nine things you never knew about sheep

James Rebanks reveals some surprising facts about ewes, rams and lambs.

A Sheepdog's Life

A Sheepdog's Life

If there were a prize for the world's cutest puppy, Floss would have won.