The Townsend Gallery

This superbly painted image features two rough coated border collies owned and worked by Shirley Cropper, wife of Jim Cropper, the renowned sheepdog man and commentator on “One Man and His Dog”. Shirley is an accomplished dog handler in her own right and both Roy, shown in the foreground, and Lilly, behind, are fully trained working sheepdogs. They have both won open trials throughout the country and qualified to run in the English National.

The background for this captivating painting is the high Pennine moorland. The rock, heather and path off into the distance capture the bleak beauty of these lonely uplands and is very appropriate as this is the type of landscape in which these two dogs spend their working day.