When the Lake District National Park donated 60 Herdies to Girlguiding Cumbria South for a very local challenge, the 1 st Hawkshead Brownies unit went one step further. Local Brownie leader Judith Myers persuaded local businesses to sponsor one of the cute little sheep each, and the Rainbows, Brownies and their friends dressed them up in knitted and sewn outfits, to fit names ranging from Glitterball to Petal. Some of the participating shops also dressed their own Herdy.
Showing off a flock of Herdies: Hawkshead Rainbows with Nicky Belcher.
Now it is up to villagers and visitors in Coniston and Hawkshead to find around 20 Herdies
per village in two separate trails. Entries cost £1 and are available from the Tourist
Information Centre, Anne and Tony Butterfields or the Newsagents in Coniston, or from the
Post Office or the Honeypot in Hawkshead. The trails are open from May 26 th to the end of
September. Once the completed trail sheets have been returned there will be a draw, with
winners announced on 1st October.
Elsewhere in the south of Cumbria, local Girlguiding units dress their Herdies up and take
them to interesting sites, anywhere from Barrow Docks to mountain summits, where they
are photographed. The best images will win prizes. And there are even rumours of all 60
Herdies getting together, all kitted out in their finest, for a very special summer picnic.