£300,000 project: Swaledale centre plans for Kirkby Stephen

The Swaledale centre is intended to bring more people to the area and help boost the local economy, says Stuart Bell.

Kirkby Stephen has been pin-pointed as the "spiritual home" for Swaledale sheep with plans for a £300,000 project centred on the town's auction mart to promote and market the breed to farmers and the general public.

Harrison & Hetherington is putting £100,000 into the project with the remainder of the funding to come from European grant aid to create the visitor centre - with the ultimate aim of attracting more visitors to Kirkby Stephen and boosting the local economy.

Voluntary Action Cumbria through the Cumbria Hill Sheep Initiative has spearheaded the project to develop spiritual homes for the different hill breeds, involving the whole community in promoting their traditional sheep. Plans are already at an advanced stage for the project which will create an exhibition hall, an auditorium, restaurant facilities, a small retail outlet and a small viewing gallery from which the public can watch live sheep sales. Also included in the development at the mart is the re-development of the office area.

Guiding the project is a specially created trust, chaired by breeder Alan Alderson, of Kaber, Kirkby Stephen, who is also chairman of the Swaledale Sheep Breeders' Association. The eight trustees are all prominent Cumbrian Swaledale breeders.

"Kirkby Stephen is recognised as the main sales centre for the Swaledale breed with some of the earliest sales held here," said Harrison & Hetherington senior auctioneer Stuart Bell. "The visitor centre will focus on how life and the rural economy in the hill area around Kirkby Stephen is based around the Swaledale breed and show this to a wider audience. "Kirkby Stephen attracts a lot of walkers and it used to be a 'watering hole' for people from the north east on their way to see the Blackpool Illuminations. "The intention is that the centre will bring more people into the town and the surrounding area and help boost the local economy," he added.

Kate Braithwaite, of VAC, said: "We're keen to establish a base that is dual purpose, that tells people about sheep farming and its history and also as a base where breeders can expand on some of the more traditional markets."

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