Herdy in the News

2017 is a very significant year for herdy - it’s our 10th anniversary! Born in 2007, we’ve come a long way since our eventful launch and to mark this very special occasion we’re celebrating everything that’s great about the place that inspired us; the Great British Lake District. From the landscape that surrounds us, to the farmers that are the custodians, we’re going to be talking about the people, places, businesses and organisations that together, make the Lake District a thriving, living, breathing, special place. Throughout the summer we will be championing everything that’s great about the Great British Lake District. Keep a eye out for ‘Giant’ Union Jack Herdy who will be escaping the office, visiting some amazing places and people, and possibly enjoying the odd ice cream or two! Perhaps he’ll be seen open water swimming, or cruising on Windermere, or making a celebrity appearance at one of the herdy shops. Rumour has it he may be visiting a brewery or two – goodness knows what he’ll get up to on that visit! Watch this space for his first adventure! If you’d like to join in the fun with #GreatBritishLakeDistrict tell us what you think is great about the Great British Lake District. We’ll be giving away prizes for the best posts! Follow us on facebook, twitter, instagram and Pinterest To officially mark our 10th anniversary year we’ve created this very special Union Jack Herdy. Limited to only 500 numbered pieces worldwide, each character is entirely handmade and hand painted. This unique herdy collectible is sold with an authentication certificate and comes with its own presentation box. Buy now 

The Lake District is bidding for World Heritage status and herdy® has partnered with the Lake District National Park to be the warm, welcoming and friendly face of the bid.  The Lake District continues to be a rich source of inspiration, whether it’s to enjoy the great outdoors, express creativity or to start a new business, as we did when we created Herdy back in 2007. We are delighted to be working alongside the 25 organisations that make up the Lake District National Park and aim for Herdy’s trademark smile to help capture the hearts and minds of the UNESCO World Heritage panel when they visit later this year. The whole bidding process lasts for two years and we won’t know the final decision until 2017. How does the Lake District qualify as a World Heritage Cultural Landscape? There are three key themes that qualify the Lake District as a World Heritage Cultural Landscape: Identity: the beauty of the Lake District we all know and love is the result of thousands of years of agricultural development of the spectacular natural landscape of the mountains, valleys, lakes and woodland. It is a cultural landscape of international significance. Inspiration: the beauty of the Lake District inspired artists and writers of the Picturesque and Romantic movements and generated ideas about landscape that have global influence. Conservation: The Lake District has been enjoyed and valued by visitors for 250 years. Concern to protect it was the inspiration for the birth of the conservation movement, including the National Trust and protected areas including the UK National Parks. What are the benefits? Our vital farming community will enjoy increased recognition of the cultural role of farming and its integral role with the landscape. Our government has pledged to provide resources to protect its World Heritage Sites. Having this status could attract more funding and investment into the Lake District. The profile of the Lake District will be elevated internationally which will help it develop into and international brand on the ‘A-list’ places to visit. If you love the Lakes as much as we do please spread the word and back the bid! #lakedistrictbid lakesworldheritage.co.uk Spencer - Co-Founder

Herdy is sponsor of ‘Go Herdwick’ charity Art Project When we herd about a trail throughout the Lakes, with 60 life-sized 3D herdwick ewes, all to be individually, hand-painted and sponsored to raise money for the fantastic Calvert Trust, we knew we had to get involved. The idea was that 60 businesses throughout Cumbria would sponsor a ‘blank’ ewe, then work with their chosen artist, to decorate it however they chose. The ewes are then to be ‘let loose’ on a trail around the Lake District, which people can follow, enjoy and photograph and share on social media. We teamed up with an old friend – Manchester artist Liam Spencer – we’ve been a big fan of his work for years and we were delighted when he said yes. Introducing Manc-ewe-Nian Way Herdy, a rather unique and 3D version of Liam’s iconic painting from 2008 which will be added to the flock to support a great cause. Easter 2016 is the start of the Go Herdwick trail: the Lake District: Rydal, Grasmere, Ambleside, Keswick and Windermere will be invaded by a flock of life-sized decorated fantasy Herdwicks. Herdwick ewes in unexpected places: in parks, in the streets, on buildings, in shops, in cafes, all paying homage to the Herdwick’s iconic home here in the Lake District and all in the name of raising money for the Lake District Calvert Trust. Liam said: ‘I’ve worked with Spencer on projects before, and love all that herdy stands for. The idea of a ‘Mancunian’ Herdy really made me smile, and so I was delighted to put my Mancunian Way to work on the ewe. I hope it raises lots of money for the Calvert Trust - a great charity.’ The Trail will last right through the summer in the Lakes and the ewes will then be auctioned off, raising even more funds for this fantastic cause, which opens up the Lake District for people with disabilities. Come and see our fantastic Go Herdwick at the Herdy Grasmere shop from Easter as part of the amazing ‘Go Herdwick’ Trail. Call in and see her for yourself – there will be lots happening on social media #goherdwick.   About Liam: Liam Spencer was born in Burnley in 1964. He studied Fine Art at Manchester Polytechnic, graduating in 1986. After living and working in Manchester for many years, he came to public attention in 2000, with an exhibition ‘Urban Panoramas’ at the newly opened Lowry arts centre in Salford. In 2006 he exhibited ‘From Manchester to Shanghai’ at Manchester Art Gallery, and was the subject of a 30-minute documentary on BBC NW ‘A Picture of Manchester’. Spencer & Diane had long been admirers of Liam’s work. In 2008, Spencer & Liam collaborated on a project – ‘Two Spencers in Istanbul’ Paintings by Liam Spencer and photographs by Spencer Hannah. Two blokes wandering through a city, one with a camera, the other with a camera and a sketchbook. Each enjoying the energy of a unique city, and committing it to paper and digital photography. Later back in England, an exhibition was born: a combination of photography, oil paintings and ink drawings, shown at Philips Art Gallery, Manchester.

We’ve had great fun bringing the “My Herdy” Limited Edition soft toy family to life, and the latest in this lovable series, My Herdy Tup, is no exception. Both wise and adorable in equal measure, everyone here at Herdy HQ has already fallen in love with him.  Designing a limited edition soft toy ram In designing the “daddy” of the family, we had to decide whether to make him a true tup (ram) in every sense of the word. As we work with Herdwick Farmers and the Herdwick Sheep Breeders Association very closely, we knew that there are two features in particular that make a male Herdwick valuable! Our brief to our friends at Merrythought, England’s last remaining teddy bear manufacturer, was to make My Herdy Tup “complete” with his two “most valuable assets”, something which certainly raised a smile from our farmer friends! We’re delighted with the result; My Herdy Tup, with his lovely curled horns and magnificent mane, is a beautiful and truly unique soft toy. Sarah Holmes from Merrythought told us: “It’s definitely the first time we’ve ever been asked to make a soft toy which is so anatomically correct! We have always had such fun making the My Herdy collection pieces, and this one really made us all smile. Each one has been lovingly handmade at our workshop from pure alpaca, a natural wool we always use because of its softness and suitability for soft toy making. The finishing touch to each My Herdy Tup is his hand-embroidered nose and smile so no two will be exactly the same.” The Herdwick sheep, with its friendly face, inspired us to create Herdy back in 2007, and through our responsibility agenda we’ve found ways of supporting all kinds of rural community initiatives, upland fell farming, and the Herdwick sheep, through the Herdyfund. We think the latest in the My Herdy limited edition series is a worthy tribute to this very special animal. We hope you love him as much as we do. My Herdy Tup, a numbered limited edition of 250 pieces, presented in a hand made box. Handmade in England for Herdy by Merrythought. Join the flock on our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or email us.

It was smiles all round this weekend at Kendal Mountain Festival (KMF) as Herdy was revealed to be the latest supporter in the Lake District’s quest for World Heritage status.  The iconic Lake District sheep lovemark has joined a growing list of organisations to state their support, becoming the lead commercial collaboration partner and creating a unique ‘United by Herdy’ logo for the bid campaign. The friendly face of Herdy will now be used to encourage visitors, residents and everyone who loves the Lake District to unite in their pride and back the bid. Herdy co-founder, Spencer Hannah, was at KMF ‘Basecamp Village’ on Saturday (21 Nov) to launch the new partnership following an interview with one of the world’s greatest mountaineers and Lake District resident, Sir Chris Bonnington, and chief executive of the Lake District National Park, Richard Leafe. Spencer said: “The Lake District continues to provide a rich source of inspiration, whether it’s to climb mountains, write poetry, or start a new business, as we did when we created the herdy brand. So it’s a real privilege for herdy to be able to provide a welcoming, warm and friendly face for the World Heritage bid over the next couple of years. “We look forward to working alongside communities across Cumbria and the 25 organisations that make up the Lake District National Park Partnership to show the rest of the world why this is such a unique, diverse and progressive cultural landscape. When the UNESCO judging panel visit, we want them to see evidence of a truly inspired, united, local community, with a clear identity and a passion for its landscape. Keep it simple.  Smile at the world and it will smile back!” Chief Executive of the Lake District National Park, Richard Leafe, said: “The World Heritage bid is in the final stages of being ready for submission in the New Year, and in 2016 UNESCO will take a look at how people are living, working and visiting our unique landscape and culture. We are delighted to have Herdy on board as a face of the campaign and hope it will encourage people join us on our journey and support the bid.” The World Heritage bid document demonstrates how the landscape of the Lake District has been shaped by farming and local industry for thousands of years, which in turn inspired the Romantic poets and the birth of a subsequent global conservation movement. The bid is currently being finalised and will be submitted to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) ahead of the UK Government’s submission to UNESCO in January 2016. Back the bid today: Visit www.lakesworldheritage.co.uk to find out more and pledge your support. Use #lakedistrictbid in your social media posts and you’ll be added to the World Heritage story on lakesworldheritage.co.uk

Some things are extra special, and a friend to journey through life with has to be one of them. Last year we introduced ‘my herdy’, the first of our limited edition, collectable soft toy series. The latest addition to the flock is the adorable ‘my herdy’ lamb. Made from the finest mohair fabric with wool felt details, each ‘my herdy’ lamb has been lovingly hand made by the skilled team at Merrythought, the last remaining teddy bear manufacturer in England. This very special piece perfectly captures the charm and characteristics of real Herdwick lambs, which are born black with white tufts of hair on their head and ears. Herdwick farmers search for this characteristic in newborn lambs as an indication of the makings of a fine ewe or tup . At around one year of age the lambs’ fleece turns brown and gradually fades to a pale grey as they reach maturity. We wanted to recreate the Herdwick lamb as part of our own, very special, limited edition series and we hope you’ll love him as much as we do. Of course it’s no secret we love Herdwicks. They inspired us to create herdy and we support all kinds of rural community initiatives, upland fell farming and the Herdwick sheep, through the herdy fund. Your very own My Herdy lamb is ready to settle into his new home, but keep an eye on him, he can be quite mischievous!

Born in the Borrowdale valley in the Lake District, Little Herdy is a very special kind of sheep - the adventurous herdwick – a mountain sheep who loves to roam free on the high fells, in one of the most beautiful parts of England. Being born and bred here, he thrives up on the tops, come rain or shine.   All herdwicks are born little black lambs, and when they get to about a year old, their fluffy fleeces change colour, first to a dark brown, then to a lovely light grey, and their faces change to white. Some are also born with a cute white tuft on their head and chest. They also have long tails, which they love to waggle as they bounce off down the valley.  Little Herdy likes sunshine and rain. He doesn’t mind what the weather throws at him. Even though he’s small and cuddly, he’s really strong and tougher than he looks. He loves rock climbing and wandering off to get a view from the tops. You’ll find him frolicking with his friends, springing about in a meadow before having a snooze in the sunshine, tired out from having lots of fun. He’s a little bit mischievous sometimes but always very nice. You might find him working his way through a dry stone wall, trying to find some sweet grass or flower heads; but he doesn’t mean any harm. He’s sometimes quite nosey and might come up behind you to see what’s on your sandwiches. You can’t be cross at him though, especially when you see his cheeky smile! Little Herdy’s mum is teaching him how to ‘heft’. That means as he wanders about the fields, meadows and fellsides he learns how to come back again to his ‘heaf’ (Cumbrian dialect for pasture or home) without getting lost. It’s a little bit of herdy magic, which is very useful, as the mountains here can range for miles, and it could take hours, or even days for farmers to find and bring home their flock. It’s hard to describe in human terms: think of it as a kind of herdy ‘satnav’, which always brings them home. Little Herdy loves his life in the Lakes and his favourite time of year is spring, the time when he was born, and when the earth is warming up and coming back to life. He feels very lucky living in this very special place, and his happy smile says it all!

Our Japanese friends and customers love all things herdy and we’ve been exporting to them now for about 5 years, our main outlet is Ito-Ya in Tokyo. They sell a selection of our mugs, keyrings, money boxes and a product made especially for them – New Year greeting cards. The Chinese & Japanese New Year is, as we know a big time for celebration in the East. 2015 is the Year of the Sheep – or as we like to think of it – the year of herdy! And as usual, herdy wants to make people smile whilst making a small difference where we can.  From day one at herdy, we realised that building sustainable rural communities meant working together. It’s a simple idea: we fund and sponsor projects, spending time working with rural community initiatives and upland fell farmers who care for the region’s Herdwick sheep. Whilst in the past we've worked mainly in the UK, we saw an opportunity to support a community initiative in Japan following the devistating tsunami in 2011.  Spencer Hannah, co-founder said: “This year, we designed some exclusive Japanese New Year cards especially for our retailer out in Japan. Rather than profit from this, we decided to donate all profits to a community chest fund supporting Tsunami disaster recovery projects in Japan. It’s a modest gift but one we are keen to offer to our friends in Japan. We’ve heard that it's raised £985.65, which we’re really chuffed about.”   Machiko Kuriowa of Ito-Ya added: “We love working with herdy, and were delighted when they offered to donate their profits to the Tsunami relief fund. Thank you herdy!" Herdy continues to celebrate the Year of the Sheep – if you get chance during February half-term, call in to one of the herdy shops – Grasmere, Keswick & Hawes, and pick up a 'Year of the Sheep' herdy badge.

We’ve been a supporter of the Campaign For Wool since it started, and have long wanted to add to our range of wool products. The Herdycountry flat cap Spencer Hannah, Co-Founder & Director of Herdy® said: Being northerners ourselves we’ve always had a liking for a good flat cap (it goes perfectly with our whippet!) So we set about working with two northern companies—from Yorkshire in fact—one to make the flat cap, and the other to weave our own bespoke, Herdy fabric, using a combination of Herdwick and lambswool. It took time, love and patience to develop, and we’re really chuffed with it now. This collaboration with some of the North of England’s finest wool manufacturers, who have been working in the wool industry for over 200 years, has been a labour of love, and working alongside their wealth of knowledge & experience and learning from their skills in the business has been fascinating.” Diane Hannah, Co-Founder & Director of Herdy® continues: “Our Herdy fabric is a herringbone weave of Herdwick and lambswool, in a classic grey. Herdwick is a challenging fibre and blending it with lambswool means we could develop a bespoke fabric that was both workable, but robust and soft enough. The flatcap is a fabulous design and looks great on both men and women; everyone at Herdy HQ loves it! It has a water-resistant membrane (essential in the Lake District), a bespoke jacquard weave satin lining that feels lovely to wear, and we’ve finished it with our rather nice signature Herdy stud. The skilled team making the cap have been a pleasure to work with.” Derek, the Chief Cutter tells us: “A well-made hat comes from a well-made cloth. Herdy have created a fabric that’s really nice to work with. It’s easy to handle, nice to cut and stitch.”  Join the flock on our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or email us. 

Once upon a time, there was a little sheep named herdy. He was an original and cheeky design, made of the finest bone china, and was proud to represent a very special sheep that lived out on the fells of the Lake District – the Herdwick of course….. At herdy HQ, Spencer & Diane had long wanted to create a very special herdy and the plan was hatched in the winter of 2013 – to create a beautiful, British, hand made soft toy that became a collectable herdy. As ever, quality was the key and a collaboration was set up with Merrythought – the only remaining British manufacturer of jointed teddy bears, based in Ironbridge, Shropshire. Our design team were in their element, researching teddy bears, visits to Teddy-Bear headquarters; talks went long into the night about textures; stuffings; hugability, likeness to our beloved herdy, and of course quality. My herdy is made of the softest alpaca wool, with a grey Herdwick and lambswool scarf. His feet and ears are made of scrumptious wool felt. Sarah Holmes from Merrythought told us: ‘Our team couldn't help but smile the whole time they were making the herdies and had such a soft spot for them by the end of the project that we didn't want to see them leave. We’ve all loved working with herdy – you’ll see from the images just how enchanting they are. Each one is beautifully hand made at our workshops from pure alpaca – a wool we always use because of its softness and ease of working with for developing models and toys. Each my herdy features a carefully hand-embroidered nose and smile. This means that no two herdies are exactly the same and each has his own individual personality for people to fall in love with. We hope they bring a lot of happiness to those lucky enough to own one'. Spencer says: ‘We are over the moon with my herdy. When the first sample arrived in the post it made us all grin from ear to ear. Merrythought have more than lived up to their fantastic reputation of special craftspeople, keeping traditions going – and in this world of mass production, we’re delighted to have a very special limited edition, which we think epitomises the spirit of herdy – he's definitely made to make you smile and will be your friend for life.’ We hope you enjoy him.

The Keswick May Fair has been going for over 100 years and in Cumbria it’s probably the most important show for Herdwick Tups (the boys). Their asset value is slightly higher and this is one of those fairs where not only can the farmer talk about that but a trophy is awarded for the overall champion. It’s not like a country fair that’s open to the public, this is only for the farmers and it’s literally just a field full of Herdwick farmers showing off their prize tups.  There’s a lot of prestige involved and for them, as a very small community it’s an important and rare opportunity to get together to socialise and catch up on everything that’s been going on over the past year. There’s a trophy which was originally awarded in 1928 and it was from an agricultural chemists in Penrith called Thomas Edmundson and this fantastic silver cup is awarded each year to the prize champion Herdwick Tup which, course, the suddenly sees its asset value jump in price from a stud point of view. The May Fair goes back to a shepherds gathering where Herdwicks that were loaned or wintered elsewhere were returned to their original owner – they were bought down off the fells to the fair. In isolated rural farming communities a tup might be loaned to neighbouring Herdwick farmer – they’ll borrow it, for its intended purpose, and then they’ll make sure it’s returned to its rightful owner at the end of the “assignment”. The Keswick May Fair is a gathering where historically this is what happened. All these remote upland fell farms would have helped each other out, supported each other, loaned tups out and then gathered to return them. Once tupping season is over (October/ November) they can have the rest of the year off (the tups, not the farmers!) After the show - when they’ve finished the championships and the shows - they all go and sing in the pub, the Twa Dogs inn in Keswick, and that’s something they all still do. For a lot of isolated rural communities, this is one of those rare social gathering - the thing that glues it together and keeps the identity of the event very much on the radar for all these farmers. There are lots of other prizes too but they tend to be very practical in nature – large bags of feed etc. The Thomas Edmunson Cup, which is very beautiful, is definitely the one to win. I went to the show to meet with the leaders of the breeders association to talk about handing over the Herdwick brand to them. We designed it for them and this was a nice appropriate meeting to formally organise all of that. We also got an absolutely fantastic thank you from the chairman of the breeders association who said that the actual output of everything that’s been done so far has had a positive impact on all of the Herdwick farmers. He said that they wouldn’t have achieved what they have this year without our involvement which is great news. He actually asked me to shake his hand and that, in the farming world is a big deal. They’re not an emotional bunch so a farmer asking to shake my hand and saying “thank you very much on behalf of all the farmers” is a real seal of approval and meant a huge amount to us – it was such a nice recognition. And it’s just the beginning of it all really, from an ongoing point of view that sort of responsibility and recognition of the breed type has to be continued because we’ve created all of this off the back of that breed – Herdwicks have been the inspiration for everything - so we’ve got to respect that and honour it going forwards. This is the beginning of the Herdy Fund programme with the breeders and it will just keep going forward now none-stop. Our involvement in the future will be mostly to do with the marketing and design support. If we were to just hand all the marketing materials over to the farmers and say “over to you now, you’re on your own” they’re not marketers so what are they going to do with it? That’s where we come in. What we’re going to do is offer that ongoing marketing support so, for example, if they need a certificate designing for someone or they’ve got an event coming up later in the year where they need a little bit of brand awareness and design and marketing support, part of our role will be to just be that design office for the breeders association – we’ll be that creative team that will help keep things pulled together for them. They’re really appreciative of all this support as it will be a big part of promoting themselves when they’re attending shows in Cumbria and catering to different audiences and that brand management will be something that can really exemplify them as an example of a rural farming community that are doing something quite together. There’s lots of peer groups and other farming groups around the UK which are doing just as good togetherness work as the Herdwick Sheep Breeders Association are but maybe they haven’t got that cross sector support around them. Up here it’s like a family – if one needs help or encouragement, that’s what families are there for and that’s how we see this going forwards. We’re all part of one big family in Cumbria. We’re not joined at the hip, but every now and then we help each other out.   It wasn’t a big presentation, just an informally formal handing over of things and an agreement of how things will work going forwards. We’ve not drawn a line in the sand or anything, it’s there to say that what we’ve done and started together has worked and succeeded and what we’re going to be doing in the future will be to continue to support going forwards – a sort of a gentleman’s agreement between us and the farming community. We can also use the platforms we have on Facebook and Twitter etc. to tell the Herdwick story to our Herdy fans and customers. They might not buy a copy of Farmer’s Weekly, but we can help to spread the word and help people learn more about this wonderful and unique breed. It’s all part of our background and our continued focus on the importance of ensuring sustainability within rural communities.  So, did you go down the pub and sing afterwards? I didn’t as I had to get back to the office, which is a really a shame, but next time I will be there.

Herdy co-founder Spencer Hannah recently attended a meeting of Regional Development Managers from the Rural EU. The delegates were the fund managers and the grant awarders who are responsible for the DEFRA team who identify rural development programmes and give granted support to those projects. A representative of every EU state was there and as well as the fund managers the 110 strong crowd was made up of representatives from other local Cumbrian businesses. The event was held at the Hawkshead Brewery in Staveley and there was plenty of locally produced food and drink on offer to impress the visiting dignitaries. The group meet every year in different member countries around the EU and this time it was Britain’s turn with the Hawkshead brewery being selected as a showcase success story of what DEFRA/ EU grant funding can achieve. So why was Herdy there? Well, Spencer was there to talk about our slightly different approach to doing business. He explained about how the business was set up, the philanthropic work we do via the Herdy fund and how important cross sector collaboration is to us and to sustaining the rural community we work within. The Herdy Company wasn’t started with the assumption of grant funding being available – we’ve always approached things with a different model in mind. As Spencer puts it: “I was basically putting ideas into their heads about what needs to happen in the future regarding cross sector collaboration in sustainable rural communities. It’s a “strength in numbers” thing, If you take a company like ours, which is a commercial enterprise that needs to generate a profit in order to exist and sustain itself, I explained how as part of its business model we give back by putting back into the community, in our case by The Herdy Fund. The idea is about people playing to their strengths, for example take a farming community like the Herdwick Upland Fell Farmers – in the past the idea that they would help and support their existence by cross sector collaboration with designers is something that would never have got into anybody's head. The Herdwick branding project we’ve recently been working on, which has also been facilitated with the expertise of Taste Cumbria, has now been proven to increase the value of the money into the back pocket of the farmer by increasing the value of the meat, so we can demonstrate to the EU representatives what “strength in numbers is all about” and the different skills you gain from collaborating with each other. We take our knowledge and skills in marketing and brand and design and we put them alongside the skills that they have in farming a very unique breed of sheep and all of those collaborations come together to help each other out.” What was meant to be a 7 ½ minute screen based presentation ended up being a more informal presentation and discussion lasting over 20 minutes as the delegates were keen to understand more about the Herdy story. In their day to day environment the delegates spend a lot of time trying to resolve business problems with monetary funding, this was a real opportunity to see how things could be done differently, by encouraging more businesses to work together to benefit the broader rural community.   (Image courtesy of David Campbell at DEFRA) The brewery was a great venue and Alex (the owner) did a great job of demonstrating how EU grants can be used to great success. Spencer continued “I don’t think they were expecting me to stand up and say “we haven’t got a clue about this” – we never assumed we’d be obtaining grants in the first place and we are now international – we’re working with all sorts of different people all over the place, we’re sustainable and profitable, so I think that really pricked up ears and it made some of that audience think about the fact that money isn’t necessarily the thing to fix all problems, there are other routes available– relationship building etc.” With all those dignitaries and local business there, were you nervous Spencer? Not too much – I wasn’t quite sure how to follow on from Alex because he’s an ex BBC reporter – he used to be a foreign correspondent for the BBC, so he knows about standing in front of people and he knows how to reach and audience verbally, so my nervousness was about me being a lot more shy than he is and thinking about talking to 110 people and trying to captivate them with an interesting story. But what worked really well was I didn’t try to put on an elaborate show, I just told them about the business with a few funny anecdotes about amusing things that have happened along the way and I think everybody really connected with that. I think they connected with the way Alex has achieved all the things he has with the brewery but I think it was refreshing to hear about someone doing it in a different way – without any money and maybe they can go out and tell other people about that.”   What did you take away from the event? “A better understanding of how other worlds tick and a bit of clarity in my own head about how credible we are as a company and from a leadership point of view the opportunity we’ve got to offer guidance and support which we can use ourselves as a best case study example.” And what’s next? “A couple of the DEFRA people from the UK who work in London were really interested in our business and one guy in particular had a chat about interesting stories to tell about other cross sector working opportunities. DEFRA doesn’t necessarily just involve itself in rural affairs which are hard core farming issues, they could be out of London affairs in ex-industrial areas where there’s a regeneration project so we got talking about the potteries and the Lake District and the potential connection between the two in terms of one industry supporting another. Take a product manufactured in a traditional area like the Staffordshire Potteries and then get all that product to a rural area like the Lake District where consumers come as visitors who then buy that product and we’ve got a chain reaction of what could happen when all these things connect up, so I think there’s potentially some further engagement that we could look at there. The “strength in numbers thing” is about thinking outside the box, it’s about people not being insular – not just doing your bit and disappearing. We need to mix it up and work together – that’s the future of sustainable rural community.”

Saturday 5th July 2014 The Great Langdale Road Races in conjunction with herdy, the Herdwick Breeders Association, Princes Countryside Fund, Taste Cumbria, ,Cumbria Life and the Langdale Gala are organising an additional date to the calendar of road races to support local Herdwick farmers. This 10k race takes place with the support of our partners and supports Herdwick Breeders in the local area. The race takes place on Saturday 5th July and includes entry to the Langdale Gala in Chapel Stile the following day. Also included is a special Herdwick mug and some locally sourced refreshment following the race! Any sheep themed fancy dress is welcomed and there will be a special prize for the best fancy dress to complete the course. For more information, visit: www.greatlangdaleroadraces.co.uk/herdwick-10k/ Entry Details Limit to 500 runners. Closing date TBC. Online entries are charged at: £13.00 for attached runners (member of an associated running club, club name must be supplied). Unattached runners pay £15 – £2.00 extra to cover insurance through the governing body. Enter Now Prizes ‘Herwick based’ refreshments & entry to the Langdale Gala in Chapel Stile the following day to all finishers. Prize for the best fancy dress. More fantastic prizes on the day. Start and Finish Sticklebarn Great Langdale Nr. Ambleside LA22 9JU Times Race Starts 12.00 noon

We have been working alongside the Lake District upland fell farming community since we set up the herdy brand and launched the herdy fund back in 2008. When Herdwick meat was granted PDO status in 2014 we thought long and hard about what our next project could be and how best to use our skills and knowledge to support and help long term sustainable upland fell farming. We came up with the idea of creating a brand for the Herdwick sheep and for the Herdwick farmer - a quality marque that could be used in a variety of projects, either meat or wool related, and would work to safeguard the balance between the Herdwick, the contemporary Lakeland landscape and upland fell farming into the future. We gave our time and skills on this branding project for free because we utterly believe in supporting the herdwick breed for the future, and this seemed a way that two designers, who worked on branding could give support.  Responsibility and community are core principles of the company Diane and I have created. Giving back doesn't just mean financial sponsorship - it should also be about the sharing of knowledge and collaborative partnerships that allow every member of the community to play to their strengths. But the purpose meant a great deal to the Herdwick farmers because the launch of PDO status Herdwick meat instantly added financial value to the product, which went back directly into the Herdwick farmer. It was great to see the brand support the campaign, delivered by Taste Cumbria and sponsored by the Princes Countryside Fund. We have now put a formal management structure in-place for the brand, and to enable this to happen legally we had to ‘sell’ the rights to the Herdwick Breeders Association – which we did – for the sum of £1. The Herdy Company have made no income or profit at all out of this collaboration, and have given freely of time and expertise. Going forward, the brand mark will be used for both meat and wool projects, and potentially could be used to market and promote activity that is related to the Herdwick community. They will be responsible for assigning the brand to vetted, approved and licensed farmers, auction houses, buyers and food retailers and wool manufacturers. In addition to the work that has been done so far, over the longer term we will be supporting the HSBA through knowledge share, using our creative design expertise to ensure this programme is managed and maintained. It is this kind of local area cross-sector collaboration that will become more important to the rural community in the years to come - a kind of strength in numbers strategy. You will start to see this brand in selected local butchers and restaurants around the county, and featured in food publications and venture out of the county with chefs and restaurants choosing to feature the product on their menus. A number of high quality London restaurants are now also featuring Herdwick. Quality Herdwick branded wool products are now becoming available, and we at herdy have our own range of Herdwick products - bags and a cap, all made in England. When you see this quality endorsement mark be reassured that the provenance of the product you are buying is naturally reared, responsibly farmed animal.

La'al herdy is the latest and possibly cutest addition to the herdy family. La'al is Cumbrian dialect for little and we thought, since his origins are here in Cumbria and he is quite small, it would be a perfect name for him! Here at herdy HQ we've wanted to add a soft toy to the range for some time now but somehow a mass produced item didn't seem to cut the mustard. When we found out about a great toy company in Vietnam who was trying to improve the lives of rural families, we thought we'd found the right people to work with.  Their aim was to build a business that helped to keep families in rural communities together as, typically in rural Vietnam, older members of the family are forced to leave home to seek work in the towns and cities. They started an initiative two years ago to teach women in the rural DaLat region of Vietnam to crochet and, once trained, pay them fair trade rates for their work. This enables women to remain at home with their families whilst at the same time having the ability to earn a living wage. Each toy is crocheted and assembled entirely by hand making each one truly unique. Which one will you love?

What would you pack if you were heading off on a winter expedition to Antarctica, the coldest journey possible? Thermal gloves and undies (It gets close to -90°C)? Maybe a torch (It’s dark for much of the day and night)? Some skis? One thing you mustn’t forget is your Herdy mug; after a few months of trekking in those conditions you might appreciate a nice cuppa, ideally in a nice colourful mug! Photo by Andrew Mandemaker, licensed CC-BY-SA-2.5 Raising money trekking the Coldest Journey A team of explorers led by Sir Ranulph Fiennes will be taking some Herdy goodies with them as they attempt to make the first successful crossing of Antarctica in winter. The attempt has been called “The Coldest Journey” as the team aim to travel around 2,000 miles in near darkness and some of the lowest temperatures on earth. The expedition hopes to raise $10 million for the charity Seeing Is Believing, as well as developing scientific knowledge and providing interactive educational resources for school children around the world. The team’s logistics expert Brian Newham lives in Uldale in the northern fells of the Lake District, and has been packing up food and supplies for the expedition. Brian and his partner Jo Hardy love Herdy and popped into our shop in Grasmere to see whether we could give them any goodies to take with them to make the expedition more comfortable and remind the team of home. We said yes of course, we love an adventure! We’re delighted to be providing the adventurers with some home comforts: peep mugs, tea towels, tins for supplies, and dunking gingerbread. It’s all been loaded onto the S. A. Agulhas, an ice breaker polar research ship which is taking the team and their equipment to Antarctica. Say hello to Sir Ram-ulph We’ve created a Polar Explorer Herdybank in honour of the expedition and took him to visit the ship at Tower Bridge, London before it set sail on 6 December. There’ll be more from our daring explorer as the Antarctic crossing begins in earnest on 21 March 2013. Meanwhile you can keep up to date with the Coldest Journey team via their blog.  

The herdy films have been a hit with herdy lovers around the world and we’re excited to announce that ‘Herdy Heads for the Hills’ - the second film in the two part adventure so far, has scooped the title of Best Commercial at an international animation festival. The films were commissioned by herdy and made by David Browne of DPB Images who is based in Ambleside. Herdy Heads for the Hills was shortlisted along with 16 other films at the Bradford Animation Festival, and went on to beat competition from major brands including Honda, Audi, Clover and Jack Daniels, and submissions from the USA, South Africa, Argentina and across Europe.   The animation was shot on location in the Lake District over several weeks during autumn 2011 and shows the flock of herdybank moneyboxes adventuring through the Langdale Valley, finding a magic box and hitching a daring ride. It is the sequel to the ‘Great Escape’, which shows the herdybanks coming to life and escaping from the herdy shop in Grasmere.   The film was awarded the prestigious title of Best Commercial at the festival awards ceremony, which took place at the National Media Museum in Bradford on Saturday 17thOctober 2012. OSCAR and BAFTA nominated Animator and Director Barry Purves presented David Browne with an ‘Osgood’ – the festival’s light-hearted take on an Oscar. Herdy Heads for the Hills was then screened to the audience, causing laughter and a round of applause. The jury commented that the chose the film “for its charm, its element of surprise seeing these simple objects in an epic setting.”   “This was my second animation for the Herdy Company and was great fun to make,” David said. “Filming the herdies using stop-motion out and about in the landscape was challenging at times, particularly with changing light conditions. And in some scenes I had to blu-tack them to rocks as the strong wind kept blowing them over! I’m delighted that a film from the Lake District has held its own against commercials from some big international brands.” We’re delighted too!

Our new children’s storybook Herdy Junior and the Big Old Boulder launched at Waterstones in Kendal on 18 February. Patricia Hovey MBE had the kids spellbound as she read the book, and there was fierce concentration during the colouring competition. Congratulations go to the winner Harry (age 7) (we love the addition of cherries on the tree and a stingray in the tarn!), and to runners up Pip and Reanna (both 6). All of the fantastic entries are now brightening up the herdy office. We’ll be having another reading and competition at Carlisle Waterstones on 10 March. Come along if you’re nearby.

You’ve all been following the dramatic images from our beloved Cumbria and the flooding over the last week, and your messages of support and concern have been so kind. Thank ewe. We’ve always known that community was a powerful thing, but in the middle of all the chaos and destruction, we’ve experienced some amazing moments of people coming together to help each other. It’s been a very heart-warming time in many ways.   Our herdy team, despite being themselves affected by the flooding, worked tirelessly to get the shops back on their feet at Grasmere, Keswick & Hawes. We’re now back open for business, and trying to help bring some normality and positivity back to the area.  We’ve had some amazing support both locally and from friends afar. In the immediate aftermath, we opened our shop in Grasmere for the community to use broadband, phones or have a cuppa. Within 10 minutes of us posting a request on social media for help at our Keswick shop, volunteers started arriving to help clear the mud, silt and damaged stock and fittings. Jean, one of our herdy friends in the south of England, wanted to help but was too far away. She was so moved by what she saw, she sent tea, coffee, biscuits to the Grasmere shop by mail order - what an amazingly thoughtful thing to do! We even had Finn, one of our Twitter friends, who posted a design for a mug; herdy wearing a snorkel. Made us all smile!  Many local people and businesses were affected. The Cumbria Community Foundation, is fundraising to help those affected by the floods and, if you feel you would like to contribute, here’s the link: http://campaign.justgiving.com/charity/cumbriafoundation/cumbriafloodappeal2015 It’s been a tough time but Cumbrians are a resilient bunch and trying hard to get the message out that Cumbria and the Lake District is very much open for business. Our roads are open (all bar a couple!), trains are running, and the countryside is as beautiful now as ever. Certain diversions are in place but please come and enjoy what you’ve always done, walk the fells, enjoy the pubs, chill out in the hotels, eat and drink in the cafes and restaurants. Thank you for all your lovely messages of support and we look forward to seeing you soon. Plan your trip, have a look at www.golakes.co.uk.

Herdy teams up with Jamie at Home You may have spotted our terracotta duo garlic pot and herb pot? Well the army is expanding, and two new pots have joined the family… Meet sauce pot and mini pot! We’re delighted to announce Herdy have been commissioned to create these exclusive new items for the Jamie homeware collection, which is available from Jamie Oliver’s party plan business, Jamie at Home. The sauce pot is perfect for serving any sauce you fancy, especially mint! It can also be used as a storage pot and is just the right size for keeping keys handy and loose change safe. The herdy mini pot was designed as an egg cup, but it’s perfect too for serving salt and pepper at your table. The range is designed by us in the Lake District and made in Sri Lanka by a local, family-run workshop whose projects support traditional village potters in the area. Hand decorated, each piece has its own unique characteristics. Kristen Wilkin, Jamie Buyer said, “It is important to Jamie to collaborate with designers who are talented and passionate about what they do and herdy definitely delivers on both fronts. Herdy is a socially responsible company and produce goods of the highest quality. We knew our customers would appreciate the huge benefits we see in collaborating with herdy, and that they would find the hand decorated forms of the Herdwick sheep irresistible.” The herdy pots will be sold through Jamie at Home parties from 1st January 2012.