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
HMS Southdown (L25) HMS Southdown (L25) HMS "Southdown" was a Type I destroyer of the Royal Navy which served in World War II. She was scrapped in 1956. "Southdown" was ordered on 11 April 1939 under the 1939 War Emergency Build Programme as job number J6602. She was completed in November 1940. She was adopted by the town of Woking in Surrey as part of Warship Week in 1942. She earned battle honours during the Second World War for the North Sea 1941-1945, where she spent the majority of her service. In June 1944 she formed part of the Naval escort force in