Margaret and John Birch moved to Letterfourie in 1992 with their daughter Eva and their sons Danny and Reuben. Living in the central part of the house, we converted the East and West wings for self-catering accommodation, which are now used for retreats. In 1993 we bought our first Soay sheep Ceddie the ram, Yvonne, Daphnie, and Chloe his concubines. Our numbers have gradually risen over the years and we now have a closed flock numbering about 200. In 1997 we took the arable farm in-hand, growing malting barley and organic oats. In 2002 we decided to harvest the wool that previously had fallen on the ground, as they shed their winter coats following lambing. Forty sheep were rooed (hand-plucked). A sample of their fleece wool was given to some hand-spinners adept at spinning short-stapled fleece. The results surpassed our expectations, the fleece making an excellent soft knitting wool, stronger garment wool, and carpet wool. Our Soays are organically reared, and our wethers (castrated males) are slaughtered at about 18 months, providing a good rich flavoured meat. A by-product of the meat is the pelts which are unique in their range of colour and quality. In 2002 Margaret, a hand-spinner, won the Rural Woman of the Year Foundation Award in conjunction with Country Living magazine to set up in the former Servants' Hall the Letterfourie Woolworks Studio teaching spinning, natural dyeing, felting, and weaving.

---