Lifestyle

A remote island in Scotland is looking for someone to take care of their sheep


The North Ronaldsay or Orkney sheep is a breed from North Ronaldsay, the northernmost island of Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland (Picture: Getty)

If you’ve got some serious desk job ennui, we might have found the perfect opportunity for you.

It’s a dream job if you’re after a digital detox… or you just truly hate sitting at a desk all day.

North Ronaldsay, a remote island right on the tip of Orkney in Scotland, is looking for someone to take care of its special breed of Orkney sheep.

More specifically, they’re after someone who can make sure the sheep won’t jump over a fence, eat the wrong plants, or venture on to the crumbling cliffs.

So yes, you will need to know your stuff when it comes to herding sheep. This isn’t something you can just bluff in the interview.

A sheep warden is needed because vital repairs are needed on a special thick wall.

This wall keeps the sheep away from the island’s farming land, so that crops can grow without being munched.

The wall also protects the sheep from copper poisoning from eating the plants – as seaweed makes up this breed of sheep’s diet, so eating the land-grown food could cause them harm.

The sheep need to be prevented from crossing a boundary (Picture: Getty)

Plus, it’ll stop this particular breed of sheep from running over, mating with other breeds of sheep, and ruining their Orkney sheep heritage.

All quite important.

The Sheep Dyke Warden will be tasked with overseeing repairs to this thick wall, while also making sure the sheep don’t cross the boundary during the process. The wall is currently pretty crumbled and easily hopped, which is why there needs to be someone herding the sheep away, but the job will also require good knowledge of dry stone dyking and general wall repairs.

The role requires 35 hours of work a week and pays a salary of £21,840. The North Ronaldsay Trust is hoping the job will continue for three years to ensure the wall is up to standard and doing what’s needed.

They’re looking for someone with a good level of physical fitness (fair enough, as you’ll be wandering around with sheep and repairing a wall all day), good communication skills, and experience with project management.

The job listing also states that ‘a willingness to work constructively with the local community is essential and the applicant must be able to work on his or own initiative.’

We reckon that’s rather important, as this isn’t the typical office environment. You won’t have a manager keeping an eye on you, just some sheep you have a rather large responsibility for.

If you fancy landing the gig, you have until 8 August to apply. Just fill in the form (complete with a personal statement) and send it over to the Trust. Let us know if you get it, please. We’d quite like to visit the sheep for a day.

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