FOLLOW THE HERD
There’s Toby Two Shoes and Lord Lockington, Gypsy and John Boy, Primrose and Little P, Birthday Boy and cheeky Alan, who likes to come up to say hello to visitors. Pavlova loves a cuddle, while Epionne loves her food and is first at the trough.
Jenny is a bit of a wild child, while Misery, sadly, lives up to her name and occasionally spits. But you suspect that like all the alpacas down on Haguelands Farm in Kent, Misery is far from unhappy. May we take you back to 2008, when it all began.
Anne and Robert Clifton-Holt are hands-on farmers at Haguelands. When conventional farming hit the doldrums, they successfully diversified until around four years ago, when, Anne says, she was chairman of no fewer than nine different companies. At the same time, her mother had become gravely ill.
‘I’m an only child and I took her care seriously,’ says Anne. ‘I had promised her that she would die at home. I was looking after her while looking after the businesses, so I was only getting about two hours’ sleep a night. I knew I was on a short string.
‘Then I had a heart attack. I promised the family I’d slow down, so I sold some of the businesses and I cut back. Meanwhile, I’d been thinking about keeping alpacas for a year or so. I’d been to an agricultural show and seen some there.’
Alpacas, one of four South American camelids, are hardy, intelligent, docile animals with very individual personalities. They have a strong herd instinct, too, and look out for each other. ‘I’d persuaded my husband Robert to buy three,’ says Anne, ‘because they’d look pretty in the back paddock.
‘But I thought that they looked lonely, so I kept buying more in lots of three and before I knew where I was, I had an awful lot of them in the field. Every time Robert walked past he’d say, “But you only bought three, there are more than three now.” No, I would tell him, you’re seeing things…’
A GOOD YARN
Anne and Robert had collected about 20 alpacas, which then started to breed. Not quite content, they took in more, and now they have about 70. But, as it turned out, in the early days the alpacas did so much more for Anne than simply add to the scenery. ‘At a bad time in my life they gave me a lifeline,’ she says. ‘I’d come back from my mother’s before she died and then spend time in the field with the alpacas.
‘I find them very calming. Now I have a shepherd’s hut with heating and a double bed in the top field, and the alpacas will come over to be with me. It’s my sanctuary. When I go there, everyone knows to leave me alone. They realise I need some quiet time.’
Just being with alpacas seems to have a bene cial e ect, it seems, as many visitors to Haguelands have since discovered. The alpacas soon became a successful business as well as her passion, and she acquired the nickname Alpaca Annie.
The farm offers services such as shearing, they breed alpacas there and sell a range of quality alpaca products. Alpaca fibre is strong, as soft as cashmere and has excellent insulating properties so it makes great socks, gloves, scarves, beautiful wraps and even pillows, with no prickly feathers poking through.
And, as Anne points out, it contains no lanolin, which means that products are hypoallergenic, so they make the ideal choice for asthma and allergy sufferers. Also, alpaca manure makes a good fertiliser because it doesn’t smell or need composting.
Those who would like to enjoy the alpaca experience can go trekking in Romney Marsh. The alpacas are haltertrained, gentle, sensitive and inquisitive. Treks are great fun, ideal for people of all ages (children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult) and take about 90 to 120 minutes. They cost from £45 per person, with a packed lunch prepared in the farm’s bistro, and take place on Wednesday to Sunday all year round.
Alpaca adoptions are also on offer. ‘I realised I had something people wanted to know more about and have more contact with,’ Anne says.
You can adopt one for a year and it comes with a personalised certificate with a photograph of your adopted alpaca and a special alpaca gift. The package can be given as a gift and allows the recipient to visit their alpaca twice by appointment. People just love alpacas.
‘Most people who come here have never seen one. We get schoolchildren, handicapped children and adults, and people who are just besotted with animals. Interestingly, the most popular adopters are widows. One particular lady used to sit in the field and just howl her eyes out. Having the alpaca seemed to replace something in her life and offered her comfort.’
ANNE’S BEST FRIEND
Perhaps not surprisingly, Anne can recognise each alpaca in her care, many of whom are named after her children, grandchildren, friends and other people associated with the farm. ‘They are very much like people. Everybody says they’re all the same, that you can’t tell the difference, but you can,’ she says.
And of course, she has her favourites. These include Pavlova. ‘I can sit down with her and lean against her and release all my problems,’ says Anne. ‘I worried my family once because they saw me sitting on the ground with a coffee, talking away to myself. I was actually talking to an alpaca, which was sitting beside me – I suppose this might have made it slightly worse!’
In turn, the alpacas can differentiate between people as well. ‘They definitely recognise different human voices and they talk to each other too,’ says Anne. ‘They hum when we’re working on them, clipping their toes or weighing them, as if to say, ‘’Are you happy? Are you OK?’’ They also “click” at their cria (baby) still in their tummies and do the same thing in the paddock after they’re born.’
Alpacas also scream to warn the rest of the herd of danger from, say, a fox. When they first heard it, Anne tells me, they thought a woman was being murdered. They know their ‘mum’ that’s for sure, and will let her know if one of the herd is unwell or something’s amiss.
‘It’s like having very affectionate dogs around,’ says Alpaca Annie. ‘And it has been a very, very rewarding experience.’
Haguelands Farm, Burmarsh, New Romney, Kent. For more details about the company and products (a scarf costs around £45, a pair of socks from £8.50): 01303-870527, www.alpacaannie.com
As Kath says, ‘Hershey was a surprise Christmas present from my colleagues here at The Lady. Who needs bubble bath!
‘I’d often said I thought alpacas were wonderful. There is one living near me and whenever I see him, he gives me that feelgood factor. I went on an alpaca trek at Haguelands Farm in April and led Hershey out. He is beautiful, calm, quite nosey and such a good leader.
‘I am planning to go and see him again in October – the adoption package includes two visits a year. It was a brilliant present and I think that any animal lover would just adore it, especially as you can get so close to them. They will even let you stroke them if they feel confident enough.’
Jenny is a bit of a wild child, while Misery, sadly, lives up to her name and occasionally spits. But you suspect that like all the alpacas down on Haguelands Farm in Kent, Misery is far from unhappy. May we take you back to 2008, when it all began.
Anne and Robert Clifton-Holt are hands-on farmers at Haguelands. When conventional farming hit the doldrums, they successfully diversified until around four years ago, when, Anne says, she was chairman of no fewer than nine different companies. At the same time, her mother had become gravely ill.
‘I’m an only child and I took her care seriously,’ says Anne. ‘I had promised her that she would die at home. I was looking after her while looking after the businesses, so I was only getting about two hours’ sleep a night. I knew I was on a short string.
‘Then I had a heart attack. I promised the family I’d slow down, so I sold some of the businesses and I cut back. Meanwhile, I’d been thinking about keeping alpacas for a year or so. I’d been to an agricultural show and seen some there.’
Alpacas, one of four South American camelids, are hardy, intelligent, docile animals with very individual personalities. They have a strong herd instinct, too, and look out for each other. ‘I’d persuaded my husband Robert to buy three,’ says Anne, ‘because they’d look pretty in the back paddock.
‘But I thought that they looked lonely, so I kept buying more in lots of three and before I knew where I was, I had an awful lot of them in the field. Every time Robert walked past he’d say, “But you only bought three, there are more than three now.” No, I would tell him, you’re seeing things…’
A GOOD YARN
Anne and Robert had collected about 20 alpacas, which then started to breed. Not quite content, they took in more, and now they have about 70. But, as it turned out, in the early days the alpacas did so much more for Anne than simply add to the scenery. ‘At a bad time in my life they gave me a lifeline,’ she says. ‘I’d come back from my mother’s before she died and then spend time in the field with the alpacas.
‘I find them very calming. Now I have a shepherd’s hut with heating and a double bed in the top field, and the alpacas will come over to be with me. It’s my sanctuary. When I go there, everyone knows to leave me alone. They realise I need some quiet time.’
Just being with alpacas seems to have a bene cial e ect, it seems, as many visitors to Haguelands have since discovered. The alpacas soon became a successful business as well as her passion, and she acquired the nickname Alpaca Annie.
The farm offers services such as shearing, they breed alpacas there and sell a range of quality alpaca products. Alpaca fibre is strong, as soft as cashmere and has excellent insulating properties so it makes great socks, gloves, scarves, beautiful wraps and even pillows, with no prickly feathers poking through.
And, as Anne points out, it contains no lanolin, which means that products are hypoallergenic, so they make the ideal choice for asthma and allergy sufferers. Also, alpaca manure makes a good fertiliser because it doesn’t smell or need composting.
Those who would like to enjoy the alpaca experience can go trekking in Romney Marsh. The alpacas are haltertrained, gentle, sensitive and inquisitive. Treks are great fun, ideal for people of all ages (children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult) and take about 90 to 120 minutes. They cost from £45 per person, with a packed lunch prepared in the farm’s bistro, and take place on Wednesday to Sunday all year round.
Alpaca adoptions are also on offer. ‘I realised I had something people wanted to know more about and have more contact with,’ Anne says.
You can adopt one for a year and it comes with a personalised certificate with a photograph of your adopted alpaca and a special alpaca gift. The package can be given as a gift and allows the recipient to visit their alpaca twice by appointment. People just love alpacas.
‘Most people who come here have never seen one. We get schoolchildren, handicapped children and adults, and people who are just besotted with animals. Interestingly, the most popular adopters are widows. One particular lady used to sit in the field and just howl her eyes out. Having the alpaca seemed to replace something in her life and offered her comfort.’
ANNE’S BEST FRIEND
Perhaps not surprisingly, Anne can recognise each alpaca in her care, many of whom are named after her children, grandchildren, friends and other people associated with the farm. ‘They are very much like people. Everybody says they’re all the same, that you can’t tell the difference, but you can,’ she says.
And of course, she has her favourites. These include Pavlova. ‘I can sit down with her and lean against her and release all my problems,’ says Anne. ‘I worried my family once because they saw me sitting on the ground with a coffee, talking away to myself. I was actually talking to an alpaca, which was sitting beside me – I suppose this might have made it slightly worse!’
In turn, the alpacas can differentiate between people as well. ‘They definitely recognise different human voices and they talk to each other too,’ says Anne. ‘They hum when we’re working on them, clipping their toes or weighing them, as if to say, ‘’Are you happy? Are you OK?’’ They also “click” at their cria (baby) still in their tummies and do the same thing in the paddock after they’re born.’
Alpacas also scream to warn the rest of the herd of danger from, say, a fox. When they first heard it, Anne tells me, they thought a woman was being murdered. They know their ‘mum’ that’s for sure, and will let her know if one of the herd is unwell or something’s amiss.
‘It’s like having very affectionate dogs around,’ says Alpaca Annie. ‘And it has been a very, very rewarding experience.’
Haguelands Farm, Burmarsh, New Romney, Kent. For more details about the company and products (a scarf costs around £45, a pair of socks from £8.50): 01303-870527, www.alpacaannie.com
My furry adoptive boy…
It was love at first sight when Kath Hanley, The Lady’s classifieds manager, first saw Hershey. He was named after the confectionery – he arrived at Haguelands Farm already named. But, Anne, who looks after him full time, says: ‘He is just like chocolate – sweet – and you cannot help but love him.’As Kath says, ‘Hershey was a surprise Christmas present from my colleagues here at The Lady. Who needs bubble bath!
‘I’d often said I thought alpacas were wonderful. There is one living near me and whenever I see him, he gives me that feelgood factor. I went on an alpaca trek at Haguelands Farm in April and led Hershey out. He is beautiful, calm, quite nosey and such a good leader.
‘I am planning to go and see him again in October – the adoption package includes two visits a year. It was a brilliant present and I think that any animal lover would just adore it, especially as you can get so close to them. They will even let you stroke them if they feel confident enough.’