WEST Devon farmer William Palmer Pearce  Dawe is a well-known breeder and exhibitor of Grey face Dartmoor sheep — as was his father before him.

While none of the family have shown at the Royal Cornwall Show for a while, William will be back in June (9-11), judging the grey-face Dartmoor sheep classes.

He keeps a 350-strong flock at his farm at Lamerton. Thirty five of them are Dartmoors.

Although the breed was once on the endangered list, it is now safe, due largely to farmers like William.

He said: 'Dartmoors are indigenous to the area and our family have kept them for several generations.

'Father was first to register them when he was a young man. He had a great fondness for the sheep and did a lot to promote the breed.'

Any sheep, he says, 'has to pay the rent' and things are looking up for the Dartmoor breed.

'We breed a few rams and sell some females each year. They need to be treated slightly differently from the commercial flock because they have their own qualities — a lustrous fleece for instance, which requires different management.

'They also need to be bred and culled properly to maintain their qualities,' he said.

Dartmoors have been widely exported in the past so they could be cross-bred to increase the wool yield of other breeds.

And now the wool price is rising, the commercial viability of the breed is enhanced.

William recognises several subtle differences in the character of the Dartmoor compared with other breeds.

Lambing percentage is not particularly high – but when crossed with a terminal sire, lambs will finish at commercial weights and within standard specification.

Also, he says, a Dartmoor ewe is an excellent, long-lasting breeding ewe.

Conscious of the breed's history and with an eye on the future, he says: 'It is important to keep the minority breeds with certain special qualities going because those particular qualities might well be needed in the future.

'While some farmers persist with these wooled and dual-purpose breeds, others are keeping easy-care strains that produce no wool for clipping.

'Who knows what is right?

'History and a world with increasingly fickle commodity requirements tells us that there is room for all to prosper.'

Being asked to judge at the Royal Cornwall is a great honour, says William: 'I hope to see a good number in all the classes and will relish the challenge.