Meet the Yorkshire Dales couple behind outdoor brands Bearmade and Wildish

Although British-born, Nell was four when she moved to Sydney, in Australia, and has been making up for the lack of British weather since returning to the UK. The freezing temperatures didn’t even deter the wild water swimmer from taking a dip earlier that morning. Her love of the outdoors was the shared interest that brought Nell and her husband, Oscar Boatfield, together – and a spaniel called Flo.

Their paths initially crossed as coffee lovers. Chatting to them now, in Wildish, the coffee shop that they opened in Pateley Bridge’s High Street, in July 2022, it feels somewhat like their relationship has come full circle.

Nell was painting and watching a movie in a coffee shop in Hampshire where she lived when she initially returned to the UK. At that time she was working as a vet, and fellow coffee shop regular Flo, who was accompanied by Oscar and his father, became a conversation starter. Talk soon turned to fly fishing – Nell, whose grandfather was a fly fisherman, wanted to improve her skills.

“I have been fly fishing since I was four and I have been teaching people since I was 16. I used to fish for England. I have been involved in fly fishing for a very long time,” says Oscar. Friendship – and the business they subsequently launched – developed through fly fishing.

Oscar says it was helping Nell get her equipment together that led to the development of their first proto-type fishing bag.

Designed to carry the “bear essentials”, the zipped Ramsgill bag – named after a small village in Nidderdale, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty encompassing areas including Pateley Bridge where the couple eventually relocated – can be worn as a bum bag or across the body.

It remains a staple of the Bearmade range that they retail online and showcase in their coffee shop, along with other sustainable brands they like and which fit with their business ethos.

“That is where the idea for the fishing bag was born – could we make a small bag to take the bear essentials? Which is where the name bear minimal, Bearmade, came from,” says Oscar.

“The first idea we produced was a very loose bag. I made it on my grandma’s sewing machine,” says Nell. At that time the couple had moved to Cambridge. Nell was working as a vet and Oscar spent his time tweaking and developing their bag design.

“We bought a sewing machine and started doing the prototype,” adds Oscar. “I taught myself to sew properly and was able to do it enough to be able to create something which I sent to our bag maker, Amy.”

Their initial run of 10 bags enabled them to test the market when they launched at a fly fishing event in Denmark. Oscar had previously lived in Denmark for a year and one of his friends had a stand at the event. He kindly allowed Oscar and Nell to showcase their bags.

Having sold all the bags, the couple say they still receive, and welcome, feedback from customers as well as ideas for future designs.

“The feedback we got, we didn’t have to convince people. People were saying ‘these are really cool, these are really well made’. Those 10 bags, people understood the concept and fed back on the design,” says Oscar.

“We created those as a testing bed to people who were supportive and passionate about what we were trying to do in this industry, which gave us the confidence to keep going with that,” adds Nell.

The design for the Jorvik backpack was based on ideas from a customer.

“We made this amazing backpack we loved. That is really important with all our bags, we really appreciate feedback. We read all the feedback and take it in to make the best products we can,” says Nell.

Such was the response, the Bearmade brand’s reach has now widened beyond fly fishing to become a practical carry-all which can be used on the daily commute.

“I think a bag is something that is very personal. It goes on a lot of adventures with you. I want that bag to go with them for as long as possible. We are really committed to making sure that happens, which is why we don’t release new bags all the time,” says Oscar.

“We design bags to be easily repairable. The fabric we use is an organic cotton from India. It is dyed for us in Leeds and water-proofed in Manchester. Our webbing is made in Sheffield, and embroidered in Gargrave.” Oscar and Nell are also working with a Keighley company to produce the smaller metal components on their bags.

Maintaining a limited output, producing 25 bags weekly, enables them to create a high quality, long-lasting and affordable product.

“Amy makes the most of our bags and we have Ray who supplements that. They are proper masters at what they do. They are exceptionally talented bagmakers,” says Oscar.

The success of Bearmade has enabled the couple to branch out into another business which channels their love of the outdoors. The Wildish Club, a community interest company launched 18 months ago, was born out of Oscar and Nell wanting to meet like-minded people when they relocated to Yorkshire in 2019.

Oscar was familiar with the county having competed in fly fishing competitions here in his youth, and the natural landscape suited them both, so much so that they wanted to share with others the well-being benefits from being outdoors. The coffee shop gave them the platform to meet others and discover activities of interest to people. “It’s a bit like Cubs but for adults,” says Nell. “It’s about getting outside, having fun and sparking curiosity and joy and doing that with other people.”

Foraging, fly fishing, woodland walks and stargazing are among the many activities they host – with a little help from family and friends. Opening the beautiful Tunnel Book on the table, Nell explains that it was created during one of their creative gatherings hosted by Oscar’s father. A talented illustrator, he encapsulated the participants’ contributions into the “The Wildish Art Production 2023” featuring three-dimensional fold-out frames as a lasting memory of their creative experience together.

More than 20 people attended their first Wildish Club gathering and led to the establishment of Wildish Clubs in other areas. “We thought we couldn’t be the only people who could benefit from this – how can we expand it and take it to other areas,” says Nell.

Eight Wildish Clubs are now operating in Cardigan in West Wales, Murray in Scotland, Stroud, Cambridge, London, Sussex, Hampshire and Pateley. They currently have over 400 members and it doesn’t cost anything to join. The aim is to get 2,000 people exploring the well-being benefits of being outdoors this year and, beyond that, as many as possible.

They are also documenting their experiences of living wildishly in a weekly newsletter for members and anyone who wants to get involved. “It is exploring the fact that we have all these amazing opportunities to feel better with the help of nature and the community, and it is exploring that experience personally,” says Nell.

Putting their businesses into perspective Oscar says: “We are not re-inventing the wheel, but it’s nice to come down a path that is not quite so well-trodden, to do something that is a bit different.”

bearmade.co.uk and wildishclub.co.uk.