Summer - Classical MileEnd Alpacas

feature pat powell
feature pat powell
Pat’s
Posh
Pets
Pat Powell's role as Rural Business
Adviser has introduced her to
many enterprising fellow alpaca
breeders. Things might have been
very different had it not been for a
certain episode of 'The Archers'.
We must all have thought at one time
or another how “strange” fate is when it takes
a turn that we would never have dreamed of.
Working in the City as a private banker
and returning each evening to the relative
sanctuary of a semi-rural home, I knew
something was “a foot “when my husband
greeted me at the front door with a glass of
gin and tonic in one hand and another ready to
thrust into mine – a prelude to telling me that
we were moving house.
Although my father had been a smallholder
many years previously, and my husband
Alan and I had often waxed lyrical about
one day getting a house “with land”, it was
mostly something we thought about doing in
retirement and we were some way off doing
that at that time.
Alan had seen what he thought was an ideal
property advertised and insisted we went to
view it quickly. We moved in within three
weeks of first setting eyes on it and with
hindsight we really had had no time to assess
how our “City” lifestyles would accommodate
our new, albeit relatively modest, landowning
responsibilities.
It wasn’t long before we concluded that
keeping nature under control might be helped
by having some grazing animals. Having
rebuffed various suggestions to keep belted
Galloway cattle, rare breed sheep and goats, I
happened to be listening to an episode of "The
Archers” where (some of you may recall!) Linda
Snell’s llama was accused of running rampage
in the Grundy’s garden and hearing Linda
retort that the llamas could not be accused of
the havoc and destruction caused as they were
such soft footed animals.
A lightbulb almost visibly appeared above
my head; we had spent many summer
evenings cycling a bridle path that ran through
large fields owned by a local breeder that
seemingly was teeming full of alpacas. We
had stopped many times to admire and, under
supervision by the owners, pet the young
cria. The alpacas had always been captivating,
inquisitive and kind looking, with those
beautiful big eyes, and I now knew (courtesy
of “The Archers”) that they would also be
gentle on foot.
So, having committed to a course on Alpaca
maintenance and welfare, we set about
acquiring our first four gelded males which
I came to know later as “wethers”, chosen
pretty much for their colours and the “kind
look in their eyes”.
We decided at the outset that we did not
want to breed alpaca; we just wanted to enjoy
their presence and have their help in keeping
the grass down. Inevitably, as we came to
understand more about keeping alpaca and
with the reassurance that the first few had
thrived, more alpaca came along. They all have
The alpacas had always
been captivating,
inquisitive and kind
looking, with those
beautiful big eyes, and I
now knew that they would
also be gentle on foot
“Spanish” names, of course, and we have both
huacaya and suri.
Our neighbours at that time very much
regarded the alpacas as “posh pets” which
perhaps, in their view, ignored their qualities
as producers of fine fibres – not to mention
excellent alarms when fox were near by – but
we didn’t mind.
Our alpacas are certainly not the most
“beautifully formed,” and only one of our
“boys” has a nice fleece – the others are not
so good. At shearing time, therefore, we tend
to offer the fleeces to ladies who spin and knit
for local charity. They have made the loveliest
“teddy bears” of which we now have a few.
Acquaintances with a larger breeding herd
also kindly include the fleeces with their own
fibre production and produced a lovely alpaca
throw for us.
Some time after I left the City and took
up a role as Rural Business Adviser for CLA
(Country Land & Business Association ) I found
that there are many more CLA members than
I could have realised breeding and selling
alpacas, producing fibres and products,
providing education and assistance on keeping
and maintaining healthy animals, as well as
merely keeping them just to enjoy as we
do, even perhaps as part of their diversified
farming enterprises.
Through the auspices of the CLA, I have
been privileged to visit some very impressive
alpaca enterprises, and have met some of the
most knowledgeable of breeders and fibre
producers who have I hope in turn been able
to benefit from the opportunities that the CLA
Membership has to offer.
The CLA Rural Business Adviser role enables
me to act as a point of reference and conduit
for members to the wealth of expertise that
the CLA has to offer, not only with regard to
Business Advisory services for those members
just starting up or indeed looking to diversify,
but also for advice on a variety of land
issues (including Taxation, Legal, Planning,
Environmental and Conservation) all of which
is “free of charge” to members.
With a membership of over 35,000 in
England and Wales, the opportunities to
network are many and varied whilst the CLA
is also able to effectively lobby Parliament
on behalf of our members, the aim being to
protect the interests of those who live and
work in, and provide products and services to,
(or just enjoy) the Country, Land & Business
environment, whether they own one acre or
more than 1,000 acres.
I am so glad that we didn’t wait until
retirement for the opportunity to enjoy our
little piece of countryside and that “fate”
caught me listening to “The Archers” as
inspiration to consider keeping alpaca. Some
may think them to be “posh pets “, but they
are also a great joy to have and be around. l
If you would like more information about
Country Land & Business Association
please feel free to get in touch with me:
Email: pat.powell@cla.org.uk
Tel: 0207 460 7905
Or write to: CLA, 16 Belgrave Square,
London SW1X 8PQ
76 Alpaca World Magazine
summer 2010 summer 2010
Alpaca World Magazine 77