The Sheepy Sleepovers wellness retreats in Scotland allow you to hang out with sheep for days, and it’s an incredibly stress relieving experience, found Adam Bloodworth “This is where Dougal leads management training workshops,” explains Beccy Routledge, gesturing around an empty barn. “If firms are on American time, he works late. We put the lights on.
” Dougal is a sheep, and I don’t think Routledge or her daughter Rivkah have lost the plot. Beccy switched horns for Hedgies when she sidelined her musical career to become the world’s number one sheep hype woman a few years back. I can confirm after a three day visit to Beccy’s farm that her career pivot was a spectacular choice.
“What’s the first thing you think of when you think of sheep?” she asks from her porch, on a crest of land in the Scottish Midlands – south of the Highlands – offering pretty views of mountain peaks and raw scrub. Sheep are nosing around behind us and there are clearly no other humans for miles. “Silly” I responded, thinking I’d nailed it.
Routledge nods understandably in a way that made clear my answer was wrong. Turns out the animals are at least as intelligent as dogs and “feel a huge amount of empathy”. They might look funny but Routledge’s message is clear: it’s time we all took Herdies – derived from the name of their breed, Herdwick – to heart.
More travel ideas in Scotland: Gleneagles hotel in Scotland is too cool to care about its centenary – revi.
