Stony Pasture began with a leap into alpaca ownership in 2014, founded on a longing to keep domesticated animals who were not destined for the table.

Then came the hard work and endless lessons to understand these fluffy exotics and the ‘fibre of the Gods.’

Gradually, the alpacas were joined by the Guernsey goats, the llamas and the Greyface Dartmoor sheep – each new species bringing the challenge of creating sustainable, ethical, no-cull end products. This is an evolving process.

Natural alpaca colours are celebrated in our handknits, crochet and bird nesting material. All the fibre has its use and it is processed locally by the Border Mill.

The medium-sized, native, longwool, Greyface Dartmoors presented a heavy weight of coarse fibre. Some of the fabulous properties of wool being tough, warm, moisture-wicking and antibacterial, made it perfect for our soft launch of welly/boot insoles in 2025. This product was a big hit. We will refine and upscale this production via the Creation Mill CIC’s felting machine in 2026.

What’s next? Felting? Spinning? Goats cheese? So many wonderful traditional crafts, so little time.

Everything I do keeps me connected to my hill-farming Granda and a field he loved which he called ‘the Stony Pasture