Flamboyant flock of fibreglass sheep raise £250,000 for Lake District charity

Bidding was brisk at the Low Wood Bay Hotel as the 60 life-sized Herdwick ewes and 48 lambs went under the hammer and realised more than double the amount expected for the Calvert Trust.

The average price for a ewe was more than £3,000 while the lambs went for around £1,500 each. However, the highest bid which received a rapturous standing ovation was for the stunning ‘Parker’ sheep designed by artist Mandy Allan.

Parker’s discoball-style, mirrored mosaic fleece has had heads turning since she took up residence at Brockhole, on the shores of Windermere, in March at the start of the summer Go Herdwick trail which saw decorated sheep scattered across 150 square miles of the county and five Lake District towns along the bus route from Kendal to Keswick..

The Go Herdwick team were fairly sure she would be a hit at the auction but no one anticipated the winning bid would be £20,000.

H&H Auction Rooms did a very slick job of running proceedings with three auctioneers, normally more accustomed to auctioning off live sheep, selling off the models created by local artists.

Go Herdwick Project chairman Bill Bell said: “We are still trying to take in Saturday night’s result. We were cautiously optimistic that we might achieve around £120,000 but to have more than doubled that is just beyond belief. Suffice to say we are extremely grateful to everyone who helped make this happen and really do hope that public interest is just as high in the ultimate project that the Go Herdwick project is helping to fund.”

The proceeds raised from the Go Herdwick project will help kick start a much larger fundraising campaign - £1.3million for the redevelopment of the Lake District Calvert Trust’s Old Windebrowe site in Keswick. This Grade II listed farmhouse and tithe barn will be redeveloped into six specialised apartments suitable for those with acquired brain injury, an acquired physical disability or going through stroke recovery.