Mirkwood Rest Home for Retired Sheep…..how it all started!

A man in glasses and a gray beanie taking a selfie with a sheep.

Hello there Andy Bailey here…the custodian of 46 (currently) wonderful sheep.
I moved here in July of 2010, being an ex dairy farmer I wanted a property with some land to let me play at being a farmer again - little did I know what was in store!

I came here with a view to keeping a couple of cows but couldn’t find anything suitable so in September of 2010 I bought five pedigree Ryeland ewes and, being a massive Lord of the Rings fan, registered the flock name Mirkwood. This, I soon realised was a big mistake for when I came to name these five gorgeous sheep I realised that there are only three or four female characters in LOTR so I moved on to my second love, Harry Potter and these five ladies became known as Molly Weasley, Minerva McGonagall, Madame Maxime, Sybil Trelawney and Nympadora Tonks.

I fell head over heels in love with them, resigned myself to the fact that I would never sell any animal to slaughter and turned vegetarian pretty much straight away. Veganism was to come along some five years later.

Close-up of a sheep with curly wool standing on green grass on a farm at sunset.

Molly Weasley

Close-up of a sheep with curly wool and looking directly at the camera, standing on grass with fallen leaves. A smaller sheep is in the background among trees.

Minerva McGonagall

Close-up of a sheep standing on green grass, with trees and a small shed in the background.
A fluffy sheep standing on grass with fallen leaves, looking up at the camera.

Madame Maxine

Sybil Trelawney

A fluffy white sheep lying on green grass with a purple collar, partially in sunlight.

Nymphadora Tonks

A sheep wearing a green hat with a brown band.

Just over a year later in December of 2011 I bought a ram (I thought I was borrowing him but the woman turned up with him in the back of a Land Rover and told me she wanted £200 for him) happily in those days I had that sort of money kicking about and so Cranmore Presley who could only ever be known as Elvis came to stay with us and do the sort of things that rams do! We had a love/hate relationship and he seemed to think it was the height of hilarity to try and break my legs on as many occasions as possible. I loved him to the moon and back and he is the old boy in the hat featured in the logo!

With the addition of four more ewes Fleur Delacour, Lavender Brown, Pomona Sprout and Luna Lovegood and much begetting went on, I sold some of the ewe lambs to other breeders but the rest stayed with me and Elvis even went out on loan to a few farms to do the things that boys do.

Life proceeded in this happy vein but it became apparent to me that I could keep more sheep than I actually was so when I saw someone in Bewdley advertising 3 old ewes who “would not be any good for breeding but would make good lawn mowers” the idea of offering them a happy retirement sprang into my mind and in April of 2017 I went down to collect Katie Bell, Theodora Snitch and Hepsibah Smith and they fitted in rather well.

Close-up of a sheep with a curly wool coat in a pen, with another sheep partly visible in the background.
Close-up of a sheep eating broccoli in a farmyard.
Close-up of a sheep's head with curly wool and a patch of dark wool near the eye, with a blurred green grassy background.

Theadora

Katie

Hepsibah

Sadly in January of 2018 we also had to say goodbye to three of my original sheep Minerva, Tonks and Maxime due to chronic arthritis though knowing what I know now of how well sheep cope with limited mobility I would not be as quick to call the vet as I was then.

Of course I posted about this on Facebook and was contacted by a lady from Coxwold in Yorkshire who told me that they show sheep, have very limited land and it always broke her heart when it came time to say goodbye. She had five sheep due to retire and wondered if they could stay at my hotel? Is the Pope American? So in May of 2018 I drove up there to collect Nancy, Nelly, Squiggle, Squirm and Princess (the Coxwold Crew) and The Mirkwood Rest Home for Retired Sheep was born. Gill and Tim have since become firm friends and she sends me two girls every year as well as various boys.

Five sheep standing on a grassy field, with buildings and trees in the background.

The Coxwold Crew

As well as the eighteen sheep mentioned above, I also had quite a few of the results of amorous meetings with Elvis and his girls namely Ginny Weasley, Rolanda Hooch, Helga Hufflepuff, Fred and George Weasley, Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore, Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter, Cedric Diggory, Victoire Weasley and Severus Snape. So at the time Mirkwood was formed I was playing host to 27 sheep in total, it would not stay this way for long. Also the boys now had their own field and stables about a mile and a half down the road which made for easier management.

Now in December of 2025 we are currently home to 46 wonderful sheep and you can find out all about them on our ‘meet the flock’ page. We also love dearly our past residents who are no longer with us and you can read about them on the ‘rainbow bridge’ page. For up to date info on goings on at Mirkwood please check out our facebook page.