About us

Claire
I grew up on a farm, my childhood was spent outdoors in the fields and looking after the animals. I have always loved to draw, sew and be creative.

On leaving school I went to art college and then I studied further for a BA Honours degree in textiles and fashion and then went on to complete my MA Textiles degree with distinction. From here I then set up my own business creating bespoke millinery. I returned to college and university to teach part-time. After ten years of being self-employed I decided to stop work in order to concentrate on looking after my two children.

I have lived at Messuage Farm since I married the farmer Chris. We have two teenage children. Gruff was established in the summer of 2016. Alongside Gruff I also paint, a favourite subject being animal portraits.

Sophie
When I was in the Sixth form I was given the opportunity to volunteer with East Cheshire Countryside Rangers on a Wednesday afternoon. This opened my eyes to the world of conservation and local habitats. Fuelled with enthusiasm, I decided to take a year out to volunteer with them full-time whilst I reapplied for university to study Ecology. I went on to study Ecology at the University of Sheffield. While this had been going on I had also been working as a Support Worker for ‘Friends for Leisure’, a local charity which supports young people in daily leisure activities. So at the end of my university course I decided that I really wanted to continue working with children and maybe, somehow combine this with my outdoors background. I went on to be a special needs teaching assistant and then trained as a teacher at the University of Derby.
I worked at marton Primary School for three years before deciding to stay at home to look after my two young daughters.