Since the loss of my very dear friend Caroline, and the move to the new smallholding in 2025, it has been a time of deep reflection. We are still connected to the old place — we continue to keep sheep there, although we are no longer involved in the day-to-day running of it — but this past year has made me think hard about what Crowkeldwick, and the whole Living Fleece Flock idea, is really all about.

Caroline was always the person I turned to when I needed to talk through ideas. Grief is a strange thing; it arrives in waves, hits hard, and lingers for a very long time, especially when you lose someone so close under such tragic circumstances. But I have tried to turn that pain into something positive and purposeful. One step in that journey was training as a celebrant, which has helped me think differently about life, loss, legacy, and the future of the flock and the business.

The idea of a non-kill flock was always driven by our passion for wool, and by the belief that rare breeds matter. Over the years, we have helped establish many smaller rare breed flocks around the UK, and I genuinely feel we have played our part in helping preserve these beautiful sheep by encouraging others to start their own flocks. We will always continue to champion rare breeds and raise awareness about why they should be kept.

But now, our focus is turning more deeply towards wool itself — and why wool matters as one of the most sustainable natural materials available to us.

Bear with me on this journey… because wool coffins are already a thing, and they are beautiful. Not only for humans, but for beloved pets too. Recently, I have been asked to make “living rugs” for elderly dogs, so that when they eventually pass, their owners can wrap them in the rugs that gave them comfort during life, knowing they are burying them in something completely natural: no plastics, no chemicals, just sustainable wool that will gently decompose and return to the earth as part of the circle of life.

So perhaps living rugs, natural wool, and the work of the flock have far more meaning and purpose than simply clothing or furnishing the homes of the living.