Our story...
We are James and Catherine Hadwin and are very thankful and proud to be farming just outside of Kirkby Lonsdale in the South Lakes, with our two daughters, Lucy and Sophie.
We should have known from the start, that living in Cumbria, with a Lancashire postcode yet classed as being part of the Yorkshire Dales, things would always be interesting and a little bit different here on the farm.... this is our story.....
James' family have farmed since the 1800s on the farm here in Kirkby Lonsdale. James is the 6th generation to take pride in being custodian of the small but beautifully formed 160 (ish) acres here in the Lune Valley.
Before him, James' Mum and Dad (Jim and Wendy) farmed for over 40 years here and set up a farm shop in the 1990's and latterly the family hog roast business which is now run by James' sister Amanda and her husband Simon www.manserghhall.co.uk
In 2015 Jim and James realised that it was time to plan for the future and decided to start a new venture - milking sheep (!). Together (and with advice from others in the sector), they combined their knowledge to start a milking flock. Retaining Jim's strong belief that sheep have "legs and mouths for a reason", the aim was always to keep our sheep outside in their natural environment and let them graze on the pastures, making the best use of the natural resources, of our farm. The parlour was completed on a Tuesday morning and milking started in the afternoon - we love a new challenge!
Sadly Jim passed away very suddenly in 2016, which was a shock to us all. This meant that as a family we were thrown into a succession plan that wasn't quite ready and over three years, took many twists and turns. Having to adapt and remain resilient to survive, James decided to continue with milking sheep and finally took on the tenancy in December 2019.
Things were going well, we supplied our milk to a cooperative of farmers which in turn supplied cheesemakers up and down the country. However, unfortunately due to Covid-19, the sheep milk market has suffered drastically, which brings us to where we are today....
Never afraid to adapt to challenges around us, we have decided to market our own milk and share with you our wonderful sheep's milk that we feel very passionate about. Rich, sweet and full of nutrients, sheep's milk is certainly a super food in our eyes. We hope to develop more products in the future and would love to hear from you.
Thank you for taking the time to read
James and Catherine Hadwin
Farmer James tending to the pasture