Our story
Welcome to LACOCKALPACA, a small, friendly farm set up by Jane Gardner-Turrell and David Turrell, and home to our wonderful herd of alpacas. We started our alpaca journey in 2015. We were fortunate to have an alpaca breeder not far from us who had many years of experience and bred alpacas with elite genetics.
How did we get into breeding alpacas? Well … it’s a long story. The short version is that during a short break we went to stay in a cottage on an alpaca farm and these endearing creatures caught our imagination. In addition, we were moving house and wanted a larger garden and a long view… so that was it!
We came to breeding alpacas from over 40 years each in leadership in education. David was an executive Headteacher and Jane was an Assistant Headteacher and Advanced Skills teacher. Hence the alliance in our business with the breeding of beautiful and fine fleeced alpacas together with the provision of bespoke education programmes of study for youngsters across all phases and needs.
‘It is the marriage of the soul with nature that makes the intellect fruitful and gives birth to imagination’ (Thoreau)
We have always been committed to caring about nature and our natural environment, and believe that we are all custodians of our countryside. At LACOCKALPACA we continue to respect our ecosystem with each carefully considered decision that we make. Our home is ECO friendly and we plant with future generations in mind.
Having inquisitive, beautiful and intelligent creatures to love and look after on this land is a great joy. The fact that their fleece is lustrous and sought after also provides us with a sustainable product. We aim to continue to contribute to the growing alpaca fibre industry in the UK.
Our experience and ‘second life’ may encourage others to take the path towards responsible and sustainable alpaca ownership. At any age, it is a rewarding experience and each makes of their business a unique contribution to the natural world.
We are members of The British Alpaca Society, which is dedicated to the welfare of alpacas and education of their owners across the UK.
