Goats kickstart new business venture for director Adam and family
Did you know that one of the directors of Priority Space has 30 sheep, nine goats, twelve alpacas, eight chickens, five rabbits, two cows and two tortoises at home!? As well as being a commercial property developer, Adam Richardson is a farmer with a herd of sheep and – thanks to wife Kelly’s new business venture - quite an assortment of other animals too.
Adam with one smiley ewe and Kelly with a cuddly alapaca and rabbit
It all started a year ago when Kelly and Adam set up a small farmyard visitor attraction called ‘Walking with Goats at Lower Coates’. The venture has grown so quickly that they have since adopted many more animals and offer a wide range of fun, educational and well-being experiences and outdoor activities.
Kelly said: “Adam comes from a farming family and we’ve run our own working farm for 10 years now. This crazy, new venture started when we re-homed four goats last year and thought they were so nice to spend time with, we’d share them. We can’t believe how fast the whole thing has grown since then.”
Fun on the farm includes animal-themed birthday parties, mini-farmer sessions, Alpaca Olympics, school visits and ‘hen on your head’ photo shoots – (Kelly says ‘they love to perch’).
Kelly also runs mindfulness, Pilates and wellness sessions on the farm often in collaboration with partners Trans Pennine Trail or Age UK Barnsley.
The business is a family affair with son ‘Farmer James’, aged ten, and daughter ‘Farmer Hope’, aged eight on hand to help too.
Son James with a friendly goat, who’s just a little camera shy
Adam, who gets stuck in when he’s not progressing property developments across the UK, said: “It’s been a bit wild at home this past year with new animals being re-homed on a monthly basis; and lots of people of all ages coming to the farm to take part in Kelly’s activities.
“Our kids love helping out and it’s a really happy place. My first focus is on commercial property development of course! But it’s nice to come home and do something completely different helping in the family business.”
Adam’s role is mostly administering vaccination jabs and medications, so he’s probably the animals’ least favourite farmer in the family!
The Richardsons have now decided to invest further in their rural business. Kelly has given up her job as a teacher to concentrate on the enterprise full-time and plans are in hand to build a 150 sq mtr barn on site, for activities on wet and cold days. This build is backed by a Rural Business Grant from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).
The Richardsons have also purchased an extra 5.5 acre field to boost their grazing capacity, so they can add donkeys to the mix in 2024.
Daughter Hope with Sparkle the cat
Christmas is around the corner and festive plans include inviting pre-school children to meet ‘Farmer Christmas’ (and yes, Adam has been recruited!!) in a farmyard grotto where they can also meet rabbits and tortoises. There will also be Carols on the Farm led by local singers the Tyre Mill Carollers.
Kelly and Adam will also offer ‘lambing experiences’ soon, where older children and adults will be able to spend get hands-on in the lambing shed and learn more about caring for the ewes and their new-born lambs.
Kelly says they want to expand the business but not too much: “The animals really do enjoy their visitors. They love the attention and have become proper little performers, but I want them to have their down-time too. I won’t let them do more than three experiences a week, and no more than one a day.
“We want our farm to offer lovely, relaxed experiences for small groups, which you can’t get anywhere else and we look forward to what the future holds.”
If you’d like to know more about Adam’s family business away from Priority Space, visit Walking with Goats at Lower Coates on Facebook and Instagram.
The Richardson family and other animals