Jane Cooper moved to a windswept island and brought a rare breed of sheep back from the brink
The Lost Flock by Jane Cooper is on sale now.
Jane Cooper can clearly remember elements of her previous life, like how it was a 21-minute walk to her local Marks & Spencer and John Lewis stores.
Now, though, those days in bustling Newcastle are far behind, and her new life is a world away from the ready convenience of the big city.
She moved 450 miles to a remote, windswept Scottish island and became involved in looking after the UK’s rarest breed of sheep. In fact, the little Boreray sheep on Orkney are so rare they were known as The Lost Flock.
However, thanks to Jane’s efforts they have been officially recognised, their numbers are increasing, and she has told the remarkable story in her new book, simply called The Lost Flock.
Jane was born in Warwickshire and moved a few times as anaesthetist husband’s Paul’s work took him to different hospitals, before settling in Newcastle.
“I’d given up paid work to look after the kids and did lots of voluntary work as I always wanted to be involved with community,” Jane says.
“I needed to keep myself busy and was a guide dog puppy walker, which gave me as much as I hope I gave back.”
Jane had always been a keen knitter and also took up spinning. Through that she heard of Boreray, the sheep that would become such a big part of her life.
In 2010 Jane was on a knitting website forum, chatting to members about wool from different sheep breeds.
She discovered Boreray was the rarest in the UK with just 300 sheep outside of the uninhabited St Kilda island from which they take their name.
“I decided to try and get some fleece, tracking down anyone who had them,” Jane says. “When I travelled round the county to collect it, I met the sheep and just fell in love with them.”
Jane still hadn’t contemplated a major lifestyle and location change but that, too, was love at first sight.
She went for a holiday and workshop in Orkney in 2011, turned to Paul and said simply, “I feel like I’ve come home.”
The quality of light and air, the openness and the welcome from the locals made Jane sense this was where should be. So, when a vacancy for an anaesthetist came up that suited Paul, the couple moved to Orkney in 2013.
Initially she inteded to get a few pet sheep from a couple in Sutherla
