John Forder

In their beautiful book, Hill Shepherd, John and Eliza Forder, photographers from Dentdale in the Lake District, allow us a glimpse at the very interesting Lakeland sheepdogs. Living in the area they were photographing, the Forders knew the shepherds and were able to follow them around throughout the year. The result is a large format book, packed with wonderful photographs of events in the shepherding year. And the dogs! There would be no shepherding on these fells without the dogs. In their excellent introduction, the Forders say, "'Cur' or 'barking' dogs have been used in the Lake District for generations and are bred especially for the job of shifting sheep in difficult terrain." The book has many photographs of sheepdogs working the fells, and while some are rough-coated, many more are leggy, smooth-coated dogs, and of unusual colors--merles, reds, fawns, brindles--along with the more usual black-and-white.… (mere)