Will Dawson : Commoner, Yorkshire Dales
Commoner, Ingleborough
Will Dawson is one of more than ten commoners who graze sheep on Ingleborough Common.
Ingleborough common has an unusually diverse mix of geology and habitats, with blanket bog, limestone pavement and calcareous grassland. Ingleborough is the most visited fell in the Yorkshire Dales, a favourite of many walkers and runners.
“I think it’s very important that we as farmers and shepherds make it clear to the public what the role of the common is, to farms like ours, and to the communities around us.”
William - or Will - Dawson farms with his father, John, at Bleak Bank Farm, on the flanks of Ingleborough. He is carrying on a tradition of commoning that has been in his family for five generations. ‘It’s part of our system,’ says William. ‘The common enables us to have different animals. That's where the sheep go in summer, so the cows have the inbye land then when the grass is lush and rich. The common is not just where the sheep live, though, it's where a lot of flora and fauna live. It has many different species, and the sheep are just a small part of this.’
Will gets the sense that few people understand what happens on a common. ‘They like to use it as a great place for recreation but most don’t understand the significance of the common. I don't think that they realise the centuries of shepherding that have gone into getting the hefts of the sheep. And I don't think there's a lot of understanding about the different habitats that the fell supports.’
Will is concerned that livestock farmers are ‘coming under a lot of flak’ and is keen to highlight the benefits of farming and commoning in the uplands. ‘I think people sometimes have a perception that if humans have been involved in something, they have damaged it in some way. But you need to realise that the habitats that Ingleborough provides are really important: they have developed slowly and under management that has largely been unchanged for centuries.’
Will has a strong commitment to the fell and to farming here. He laughs when he says that some people think that at just 24 he’s too young to be contented with what he has, but he has no plans to do anything different. He and his father currently work together, and in the long term, William wants to keep the family farm going. ‘My great grandfather used this common, and his father before him. They could come now on a gathering day, and recognise what we’re doing. It's a link, through the Commons, between what goes on now and what’s gone before, in this area and areas like ours. It's just brilliant, and it needs highlighting.’
Will is going to be using a GoPro camera to capture life on the farm. Short film clips will be shared through this website so keep returning to check for updates.