Named after an adorable Swiss Valais black nose sheep, Woody’s Woolies sells sheep fleeces and artisan crafts made from animal hair.

Meghann Crowe and her sister-in-law, Denise Gaywood have set up and are running their own business from their family farm which is based on Birker Moor in Broughton-in-Furness, next to the beautiful Devoke water, above the Eskdale Valley.

After first embarking on the idea a little over two months ago, the best sellers so far are their classic felted sheep rugs, sweet mini Herdwicks and unique Christmas wreaths.

They are already gearing up for the festivities, at the moment Meghann and Denise are hard at work, busy making Christmas wreaths and baubles all out of sheep wool from the farm.

The idea to start selling wool crafts came from trying to find a way to make use of the wool that is routinely sheared off their flock.

“A lot of hard work goes in to shearing them,” Meghann said: “and you don’t get a lot of money just for the fleeces, it’s a shame really.”

Denise took a course on making rugs from raw fleeces and learnt how to clean the coat once it has been cut away from the sheep. The process involves lots of soaking and rinsing to make the wool nice and fresh.

There are also plans to open the farm to the public, so visitors can come up and meet the sheep while watching all the farm work going on in the background.

 “They’re all extremely friendly and love coming for cuddles,” said Meghann, “They all enjoy eating feed from your hands and will happily follow you round!”

When visiting Woody’s Woolies, you will be surround by beautiful hills as well as some charming farm animals that consist of cows, sheep and a couple of cheeky miniature Shetlands.

The farm has a number of different sheep breeds, including Herdwicks, Texels and Cheviots as well as Rylands and Valais, plus one very special Swiss Valais black nose whose beautiful face has become the mascot of his home farm.

The whole farm is looking forward to new horizons, “We hope Woody’s Woolies has a very strong future ahead of us,” said Meghann, “Allowing us to introduce more sheep to our flock and keep making our beautiful products from the wool! We want to teach people about Hill farming and what goes into shearing sheep.”