But we want to do up the cottage. At the moment people who visit the field to see our sheep just see a little tumbling down house at the bottom. But this is a piece of Addingham's heritage that should be very rightly preserved not just disregarded. The breed is classed as a minority breed which means there are less than 1500 registered Wenslydales. The Soay can be traced as a pure breed back to the Bronze Age.
People ask if they are goats or miniature deer.
Another attraction at the field is the clutch of Aracauna chickens which, according to Mrs Whitehead, originate from Chile and are the only pure bred hen to lay blue eggs. Foot and mouth restrictions have meant visitors have had to stay away from the field this year. But Mrs Whitehead hopes that in future years people will be able to come to the field and explore the cottage. The Whiteheads have already spent more than 700 on improvements to the field. We wanted to use as much of the original stone on the cottage as possible.