Southdown sheep wool and cereals due to rising volumes of imports from the British Empire was accompanied by the Wet Years - a six-year period of cold, wet weather with little sun. In the Second World War, the South Downs were commandeered for military training, only fringe farms being left to produce milk for the towns. Sheep farming declined further after the war, although it is now being encouraged again through the designation of the downland as an environmentally sensitive area, and the restoration of arable land to sheepwalk. The Southdown has been placed on a watch list by the Rare Breeds
A Breed of Heroes command, AAC(A) Sgt. Wheeler – Charles’ loafing platoon sergeant Capt. Henry Sandy – Battalion medical officer and ‘famous cad’ Beazley – Northern Ireland Correspondent for "The Times" "A Breed of Heroes" won the 1981 Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize and was shortlisted and became runner-up in the 1981 Booker Prize "A Breed of Heroes" was adapted for a BBC Television production by Charles Wood, starring Samuel West in 1994. The story of Charles Thoroughgood is continued in Alan Judd's 1996 novel "Legacy", having left the military he now works for MI6. A Breed of Heroes A Breed of Heroes is a