Angela Mill

Myself & my family are still relative newbies when it comes to Border Leicester Sheep and really only got involved thanks to my son Euan, who, when he was 8, decided he wanted to keep his own wee flock of sheep. After visiting all the breeds at the Highland Show in 2016, he decided that Border Leicesters were going to be the breed for him! So, off we went to Lanark that year and purchased 3 foundation females & a tup lamb and the Shawsmill flock (B90) was born. 8 years on and he now runs 15 pedigree Border ewes.

We didn’t farm any sheep before 2016 but, after falling for the Borders, I decided (some might say stupidly), that I also wanted to start a commercial flock and was keen to use something that worked with the Borders seen as we had them already. Maybe not the most fashionable, we thought we’d have a bash at producing Scotch Halfbreds. Our commercial flock of North Country Cheviots began in 2018 with about 40 ewes and we have increased to about 180 ewes now (although there are a couple of texels in there too). This proved a good decision as the demand for Scotch Halfbreds is increasing as people start to see the benefits of them again as a maternal dam. 

I still see ourselves as novices and continue to learn so much from other members of the Society and I can’t thank everyone who has helped Euan over the last few years enough. I hope that I can share that enthusiasm with any new members and will continue to use and promote the breed through our own farm business.