meaning of a occupational description

[Forestandtree]

In tracing ancestors in LlanddewiBreifi/ Doethie Camddwr  1851 Census, I came across, in the occupation column, 686 acres, including sheep walk.
I am wondering if anyone is able to tell me what this sheep walk means and what it entailed, please.
Many thanks.  F & T

[Wiggy]

Hello,

Any chance of you posting the image please F & T.   I don't have the wherewithall to find it myself.

My guess - without seeing the image or really knowing anything is maybe droving, or shepherding.   
But . . .seeing the image might change that thought.   

Wiggy   

[bbart]

I was thinking along the same lines as Wiggy with the drover/shepherd idea, but when I searched old newspapers I find myself wondering if he was an owner of a sheep walk. 

The following is just one example of many, which might help (or further confuse!)

[mckha489]

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sheep%20walk

[Wiggy]

That makes sense then doesn't it - somewhere sheep can be kept - a field or paddock in fact! 
The Welsh being different and 'interesting'   

[Maiden Stone]

Is gyrn Welsh for horn?
Was the area mountainy?  Edit. Yes. I've now noticed "Brecon" in the advert.
The sheep walks seem large in comparison to the size of the farms which they accompany.
 I suggest that a sheep walk is/was part of the mountain to which sheep on a named farm were hefted. Each farm would have rights to pasture an agreed number of sheep on the common mountainside. The sheep are turned out to the mountain in early summer when their lambs are sturdy enough to cope. Each flock makes its' way to the same area - the heft where it grazed in previous years. Each ewe and her daughters will have a favourite section where they graze. The memory is passed from mother to daughter through many generations. Few sheep stray. Any that do will be returned either to the mountain or to their owner after a gathering.
 While the sheep are spending summer on the mountain, fields on the farm which they grazed from Autumn to Spring have time to recover. Some fields will be harvested for hay, silage and perhaps other crops; some fields may be left as pasture and may be grazed by cattle. (Sheep and cattle graze differently.)
This system is traditional in upland Britain. It's a world away from modern factory-farming.

Edit. Some of my ancestors were Lambs, although not in Wales. 
Some of my family were shepherds (with a small s).

[bbart]

Each ewe and her daughters will have a favourite section where they graze. The memory is passed from mother to daughter through many generations. Few sheep stray.

I did not know that.... quite interesting!

I wonder now, would his occupation technically be a flock master, or some variant of that meaning?

[Forestandtree]

I am inclined to agree with the mother and youngster passing on suitable sites.    Yes in that great newspaper article {thanks} the sheep walks are large:   maybe it was the way to get the sheep to market, as Brecon was not too far, without uproar from locals.   It looks like a mountainous area.
Will try an 'send' 1851 Census {if I am not infringing any rights!}
Many many thanks to all who replied:  you are a fantastic lot.
F & T

[Wiggy]

I suggest that a sheep walk is/was part of the mountain to which sheep on a named farm were hefted. Each farm would have rights to pasture an agreed number of sheep on the common mountainside. The sheep are turned out to the mountain in early summer when their lambs are sturdy enough to cope. Each flock makes its' way to the same area - the heft where it grazed in previous years

Ah ha - so that would explain the apparently unfenced sheep grazing in the hills above Llangollen when we went for a drive up that way through the old slate areas - (sheep with different coloured paint splotches on them - mostly pink thereabouts, if I remember correctly.    )

Very interesting.  The things you learn.