Sheep Grazing on the Mountain Mug

This image, originally captured on film in 1987, depicts sheep grazing on the mountainside in the Lake District National Park, in the United Kingdom. The principal industry in the park is hill farming, where the sheep are allowed to wander the mountains throughout most of the year. The farmers gather the sheep in the spring for shearing and the older sheep are sent to market. Each farmer daubs a dye specific to their herd on their sheep so that they can be separated later. Lambs are daubed in line with the colour of their mothers. The soft-looking form of the mountain in the image is characteristic of the mountains in the north of the park, where the underlying rock is slate. Being relatively soft, glaciation has left the mountains wi...