The Eden area lost an animal lover, businesswoman and UK pioneer of a South American livestock species with the death of Joy Stevenson, aged 76.
Joy was one of the first people in the country to appreciate the potential of alpacas and opened a centre in Stainton devoted to this attractive camelid, noted for the extremely fine fibre it produces.
Her parents, Bernard and Phoebe Matthews, lived at Gorleston, Great Yarmouth, where Joy was raised. Her father was from a fishing family, but by the time she was born had become a scrap metal merchant and also grew daffodils commercially.
The young Joy helped get the daffodils ready for market and also assisted in the scrapyard, where she loved driving one decrepit car into another. On one occasion she lost control of an old tractor which hit the daffodil greenhouses, breaking many of their glass panels — an incident she often laughed about in later years.
In her teens Joy had a chestnut pony called Robin and later talked about her adventures with him. At times he would bolt and Joy would have to hang on for dear life. She retained a love of being with and caring for animals throughout her life.
Joy went on to work as a chiropodist and had an ample list of clients, but her life changed completely after she met Garry Stevenson in 1979 and married him the following year. He was a circus artist and she went on to lead a similar lifestyle — but first had to sell her pony, leave her dog with her mum and move to Blackpool.
The couple’s first contract with a circus — along with Garry’s dad — was in Denmark for the 1981 summer season.
She was always keen to be with the animals and even took on the challenge of driving a pick-up truck towing a 26ft caravan when the circus moved from one Danish town to another. She settled into this life very well and enjoyed the companionship of others involved with the circus.
She and Garry continued to work in Denmark and Sweden for three summer seasons and France in the winters. During this time they had two children, Shaun and Katie.
Their travelling lifestyle ended when they established their own family circus at Lowther Park, near Penrith. This led to them operating the whole park, alongside Garry’s father, mother, brother Carl and sister Inger.
Joy was up for all these changes, carrying out a host of tasks ranging from painting walls and fences to taking money at the entrance gate — all while running the family home with great efficiency.
Her passion continued to be animals and over the years she cared for a wide variety, including pot bellied pigs, goats, dogs, miniature donkeys and many alpacas. She bred one white alpaca called Miski which became champion junior female at the Royal Bath and West Show in 2005, which made her very proud.
Alpacas became a big part of her life and she had many adventures with close friend Pat Bentley, from Morland, who was a fellow camelid enthusiast and breeder. They even imported a full planeload of alpacas from Chilli, which was a big task.
Joy started the Alpaca Centre shop at Stainton in 1997. She did all the purchases, deciding what stock to buy and sell. From welcoming only a handful of customers to start with, she built the business up to be very successful, employing two or three members of staff.
At the same time she loved nothing better than being with her family, not least her six grandchildren.
Joy was diagnosed with colon cancer in October, 2021, and told it was inoperable and aggressive but could be managed. She did not complain once during her subsequent fight with the devastating disease, showing great strength and determination.
This was particularly evident when she insisted that she and Garry attend the wedding of one of her relatives near Norwich last September despite her illness. With the help of steroids from her oncologist she did make it and had a wonderful time, as did Garry. Unfortunately, due to the closure during COVID followed by Joy’s illness the family decided to close The Alpaca Centre. The shop will close Friday, 14th July at 2pm with a much-reduced sale. The website orders will continue until stocks have gone. G&S Specialist Timber continues to grow on the same site in Stainton. G&S are hardwood timber merchants and also sell specialist tools for wood carvers and turners, mouldings and much more.
Joy’s family thanked the NHS, particularly staff at the hospitals in Penrith and Carlisle, for the fantastic care they gave Joy at every stage.
The funeral service was held at St Andrew’s Church, Penrith. Walkers Funeral Directors had charge of the arrangements.
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