We have had a busy week and a half here on planet Ryecroft! Not only have we held our first two pop up shops, which have been incredibly well supported by our fabulous community but the week began with something quite special!
Last Friday 3rd December we were part of an amazing incentive which aims to spread the genes of a very rare breed of pig all over the UK.
The fear is that if an outbreak of disease occurred, such as foot and mouth, concentrated bloodlines of the Oxford Sandy And Black pig may be wiped but this can be prevented by spreading the genes far and wide.
So on Friday morning we began an epic journey in Darwen collecting two sows, Buttercup and Ginger, from Steph Nightingale. The first leg of our journey took us all the way down to Ilminster in Somerset to collect our next passengers from Barbara and Jon King. Six weaners joined Buttercup and Ginger, and we all set off to Truro, Cornwall to unite them with their new owners, Aimee and Stephen Edmund.
We had motorway closures both southbound and northbound, horrific wet weather, followed by pea soup fog! But our precious cargo were delivered safely! We began our journey at 8am Friday and finally landed home happy but shattered at 2.15am Saturday. It felt good to be part of something amazing. Thanks to Kim Brook who has played a massive part in organising this incentive for the OSBs; we are all hoping to protect this amazing breed for the future.
