CHAMPION sheep keeping teachers Steve and Chris Higgins have learned enough lessons to come top of the class in their hobby.

During the day, the couple both work in education. But out of school, Steve and Chris spend their time looking after a flock of 30 Lincoln Longwools in a field off London Lane in Tardebigge.

The couple travel the few miles from their home in Braces Lane, Marlbrook, Bromsgrove, to check on their champs, who face their toughest test of the year at the next show - right in the heart of Lincolnshire.

"The sheep are a rare breed and there are only about forty flocks in the country," said 50-year-old Steve - a science teacher at Dame Elizabeth Cadbury Technology College in Birmingham.

"Twenty-five are based in Lincolnshire, where the sheep originate. We've won small prizes at this show before but never the big one," he added.

The show is at the end of July and the Higgins contenders will be travelling decorated with a host of prizes from the Three Counties and the Royal Show at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, including five firsts and three seconds in various categories.

It's a good result for a couple who took up keeping sheep as a pastime 15 years ago when they bought the seven acres of land.

"We'd kept chickens before and we wanted to keep animals. We decided sheep would be the easiest. They don't take much looking after and you don't need any special equipment, like you do with cattle. It's a hobby, really. We go there a couple of times a day and then prepare them when the shows come around," said Steve, whose 49-year-old wife works in Warwickshire as an adviser on teaching visually impaired children.

Their fascination with the woolly Lincolns started back at the Royal Show 15 years ago. They liked the look of them and were impressed by the fact that the breed is very rare - there are only about 500 ewes and 50 rams - and had a fascinating history.

"From the end of the eighteenth century, Lincolns were right at the centre of the industry," said Steve.

"Their wool is coarse and thick and people wanted heavy clothes in those days. At the start of the twentieth century, the breed was sold to Australia and mixed with Marino sheep to make finer wool."

Steve learned to shear at college classes and the wool now goes to the Wool Marketing Board, mainly to be used in carpets. Covered in wool or sheared, the flock is picking up prizes. Now Steve and Chris are hoping their skills will pay off when they travel on the last Saturday of July to take on the other breeders on their own turf.