MERE mention of the Covid pandemic can still evoke a shiver in people, especially small business owners, many of whom did not make it out the other side of prolonged shutdowns across the world.
But, for one little business in the Borders hills it proved to be something of a godsend, both for their direction of travel and in awakening the global population to what matters in life.
The idea of taking time out for a stroll in a Borders valley with alpacas may not be the first thought in anyone’s mind but it is on the radar of many more now than it was before the pandemic struck in early 2020.
Lynne Jobes was hitting the burn-out point after a career in social work when she was introduced to alpacas at a glamping show. She mentioned them to her husband, Alan, an officer with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), and when she said she fancied the idea of becoming an ‘alpaca trekker’, he said "why not?"
The couple and their son Mark and daughter Georgia had already made the break from life in Northumberland by buying a small-holding at Beirhope, 13 miles south of Kelso in the Kalewater Valley, and less than five from the English border as the crow flies.
The oldest Roman road in Scotland, Dere Street, is just over the hill, and the Thowliestane Hill Fort – where Lynne, her alpacas and people from all walks of life traverse every week, and stop at the top to gaze across the entire Borders and Northumberland - goes back further, to the Iron Age.
“We started with the alpacas in 2017,” she explains, “and then, three years in, Covid arrived and everything shut down.
“At the time, Covid was dreadful for everyone, and I remember sitting in the house thinking ‘how is my business going to survive?’ We received financial support from Scottish Borders Council, for which we will be eternally grateful because that gave us a chance to keep going.
“But the pandemic also made us pause and think, something I think small businesses rarely get the chance to do, and we realised then that we needed to diversify. We couldn’t just have a sole income of the alpacas but I realised that we had a gift with the land we had because so many people were holidaying outdoors and doing what they could away from towns and cities.
“So, by pivoting we were able to meet some of that new demand for camping. We are now six years on from the pandemic and that demand shows no sign of stopping; in fact, more and more people now talk about how important mental health and wellbeing is.
“And when you come to somewhere like Beirhope you can step away from everything and sit, breathe in the hill air, converse with family and friends again, look at the most fantastic stars – we have great dark skies here, where the Aurora Borealis is breathtaking.
“That all promotes wellbeing, so the Covid pandemic for us was an opportunity to look at our business and see how we could go forward, and we've never looked back from a business and turnover point of view.”
The Beirhope Alpacas business now incorporates a seasonal campsite, complete with outdoor kitchen, barbecues, fire pits and even reliable wi-fi for life’s emergencies. ‘Phil’ and another 15 alpacas are in nearby fields, with sheep and goats in others, and so the alpaca walks continue.
They are sheared once a year and their wool processed at The Border Mill in Duns and various items from alpaca bracelets to beanie kits are available from the Beirhope Shop.
But the wider camping experience is what has propelled this small Borders farm to global attention, Beirhope winning Hipcamp Best Campsite awards for three years in a row, and the camping and alpacas experience last year lifting the TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Award.
“Incredibly, that put us in the top ten percent of outdoor activities in the world, which is just phenomenal,” Lynne said. “We are Beirhope, for goodness’ sake! We are tiny, and yet we’re walking with giants of attractions, and that's down to the fantastic team that we have at Beirhope who make the experiences genuinely great for everybody.”
It is hypothetical and largely pointless to wonder whether the business would have taken off the way it has had the Covid pandemic not turned the world on its axis and forced people to stop and think about their lives, and how and where they lived them. Certainly, Lynne, son Mark, and their support team – husband Alan is still on Forces duty - are not pausing now to think about such things.
Lynne hosted the latest the Scottish Borders Chamber of Commerce and 20 small business owners from across the region recently and shared her story of small business growth.
“The interesting thing about the world we live in now is that more people now value having time for themselves,” she added.
“How we look after ourselves is really, really important and we’re delighted that Beirhope has become a place that helps people reset and experience a little piece of magic.”
