Yorkshire Blankets, Barnsley: All Creatures Great and Small cast and crew make ‘large order’ of products from Yorkshire fabric recycling business

Yorkshire Blankets, based in Barnsley, is a fabric recycling business owned by mother and daughter team, Victoria Cawthorne, 57, and Fran Merrett, 29.

Before the business was born, Ms Cawthorne, from Wakefield, worked at a bank and was looking for something she could build by herself.

She bought surplus materials someone was selling from their blankets and arrived at her first craft fair in 2015 at her daughter’s school. Her products sold out.

In an email sent to her by the school they thanked her for her help but said the stall holders had complained as she hadn’t made anything herself.

She was inspired to set up her own business after seeing how popular her stall was at the fair and realised that she had to create the designs from scratch if she was going to be a success.

Since then their items have sold in many market fairs across Yorkshire including Grassington and attend wool shows nationwide from Newcastle to Brixton.

In early March 2025, the cast and crew of All Creatures Great and Small placed a big order after the crew spotted their products in The Hutch shop that was used to film Higgins Bakery in the series.

“We started making lavender hearts from the blankets, literally stitching them by hand and we used to make simple fold-over cushions by hand,” Ms Cawthorne said.

“That’s how the business really started, more so because I was barred from a craft fair rather than [my idea] about making things from the blankets.

“Fast forward and we started doing Christmas fairs, craft fairs, then we went to York Market and we had a stall there. From there we had grown.

“It was really interesting, we had a large order come through for the cast and crew of All Creatures Great and Small.

“One of the runners spoke to me and it was an order for the camera crew and for the stars. They ordered scarves, blankets and all sorts of things.”

The products are made from the extra material leftover from mills all over Yorkshire and the products are now sold internationally.

“Every blanket you see on the stall has been hand cut, it’s been labelled, it’s been folded open a certain way, it’s been raffied up with the correct tag and sizes and everything takes so long,” Ms Cawthorne said.

“We have always been Yorkshire Blankets; it was just a name that popped into my head; we use all Yorkshire mills so let’s celebrate the Yorkshire name.

“We get orders from people in America, Spain and I think the Yorkshire name makes people think of quality and honesty.

“We’re breathing life into something and using something that would have ended up in the landfill.

“We make things out of the blankets but any off cuts; smaller bits go into keyrings, smaller bits go into the details on our owls and when the bits are too small for anything to be done with them, they then go into the footpuffs for stuffing. We literally throw nothing away.”

Initially, they thought they had to diversify for their products to sell all year round, but they later discovered they suited all seasons.

“[Our demographic] ranges through everybody, from females and males,” Ms Cawthorne said.

“Quite often at farmer’s markets you will find a bloke dragging a woman back. Men show a real interest in our blankets; it could be that they are just Yorkshire and they want to save on putting the heating on, I’m not sure.

“It is literally everybody from students to elderly customers who can’t do the website so still send us cheques.

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“When we first started the business we thought it would just be winter products, so I even went on a course to learn how to upholster furniture because I thought that would be what I would need to do to keep going through the summer.

“But of course then it switches to summer blankets, even on the beach they’re brilliant or in pubs when you want to keep warm when the sun sets.

“We branched out into music festivals; we do Underneath the Stars every year, where we have dedicated buyers who have bought something from us every year.

“Fran’s been on maternity leave for the last six months, she’s literally just come back. So we’ve got our next girl entrepreneur Harriet who is in the wings. It has been a family showdown.”

The business is a family affair as her daughter, Fran, from Barnsley, joined the business when she graduated from university.

“At the time I was working in Costa. I had a job after uni and they told me I was working on Christmas Day,” Ms Merrett said.

“I said, ‘mum I’m not working on Christmas Day, I’ll start working with you at the Christmas markets to help’ and I’ve never left.

“I did an English degree at university, so I do all of the social media and website side of things mostly, but I still help at the warehouse and do all of the markets too.

“I use my English degree quite a lot in the day-to-day running of the business anyway because when you work for yourself you’re everything.

“But I’d say working in the real world in the market and seeing the back end of how everything is done is probably what I’ve learnt the most about running the business with mum.”

Ms Cawthorne and Ms Merrett said that their differing personalities have balanced each other out and working together has strengthened their bond.

“I think you have to learn patience, honesty and also learn whose skills are the strongest in which area and take advice from each other as well,” Ms Cawthorne said.

“When we go to set a market up, we hardly talk because each of us knows what the other one needs to be doing.

“As for family dynamics, the bond is stronger than ever. We’re like best of friends that work together but we do work hard to keep my other daughter in the loop as well.

“The plan definitely is that I’m retiring at 60, so that’s three years away now and she’ll definitely take over the business then. And then Harriet.”

Ms Merrett added: ““I’ve probably learnt that mum’s more laid back than me, a lot more laid back than me, so I’ve probably learnt that it’s not the end of the world if things don’t get done.

“Mum has probably learnt to be a bit more organised so we’ve balanced each other out.

“[Harriet] is only six months at the moment but hopefully she’ll follow in our footsteps and help me at the markets when she’s toddling around and then maybe fall in love with it too.”