We have an established, family run herd, situated in the village of Minety on the edge of the cotswolds. We currently have a young herd, with a wide range of colours. Our size enables us to keep a close eye on all our animals and know them really well. Our females are friendly and inquisitive, and engage with us, but they still retain their naturally strong herd identity. We started our herd in 2006 when our daughters, having grown up with horses, were at the stage where other things began to take priority. With the horses gone, the grass continued to grow. A chance conversation over an alpaca flyer from a country show lead us to think seriously about the possibility of keeping alpacas.

Our first move was to attend an open day with the intention of seeing if alpacas really were for us. Not only did we leave the day, convinced that alpacas were for us, we also met a like-minded couple who have become good friends. Having made the decision we visited a variety of breeders to get an idea of the potential and price range of setting up our own herd.

The breeders we bought our first animals from are also a husband and wife team; they have helped and supported us from day one and have demonstrated how important backup can be, which is something we are keen to maintain with all our clients.

Summer 2010 has seen the arrival of a second cohort of Snowmass cria. We are delighted to announce that they are every bit as strong, healthy and gorgeous as the previous year's. Keeping alpacas can be a relaxing past time or an interesting, thriving business. Alpaca farming continues to be a growing industry in the UK. Alpacas are very peaceful animals and many a relaxing hour can be spent watching them. What a lovely sight it is to see the various coloured animals cantering across the paddock, snoozing in the sun or just grazing in groups.

Through positive daily contact with the whole herd, they are almost certain to come when called, especially at meal times and several of them will even feed from your hand. Alpacas are blessed with a thick lanolin-free fleece which is ideal for weaving, knitting, felting or spinning into a range of products from scarves to duvets, gloves to socks.

We stock several lines of garments made frrom the fleece of our own animals as well as British alpaca products. Breninwen Alpacas is also proud to purchase Peruvian made garments from QUIPU - a charity and fair trade supplier dealing directly with small communities in Peru.

We attend a growing number of country shows each year and have regular stalls at several local markets.