A WOMAN who fell in love with Teesdale when she made the long trek from her Kentish home for holidays is now running a successful business on an isolated farm near Romaldkirk.

Former bank worker Karen Beeny had been trading as Saddle Sense for ten years when she decided on a change of name in September, feeling The Leading Leather Company more reflected the diversification route she is now travelling down.

The company is a family affair, with partner Jonathan Shepherd, the couple's three school-age children - Jessica, Robert and Rachel - and the couple's mothers all giving a helping hand at their farmhouse at Botany, just up the road from Hury Reservoir in upper Teesdale.

It all began back in 1987 when keen horsewoman Ms Beeny, whose working background was in banking and finance, saw an advertisement in Horse and Hound for a saddlery course. She managed to fit the training around her job, using holiday breaks to study intensely, and came away with City and Guilds and Society of Master Saddlers' qualifications in saddle and bridle making.

However, everything was put on hold when her children came along, with her original business only getting off the ground in 1994 after the family decided to move north.

"We began with an enterprise allowance through Darlington Business Venture, where we were living before we came here," she said. "It involved both Jonathan and I at first but he is in the building trade at the moment. He backs me up when it is the busy show season and I back him up with doing accounts.

"We had no family up here in those days, and young children to look after, so it was quite hectic at times," she added.

Saddle Sense originally worked purely in the equestrian field, undertaking bespoke commissions and repairing tack for riding establishments and horse owners. One of her more exotic jobs was checking tack on a Forces' base in Cyprus.

But with the canine side starting to overtake the equestrian side, Ms Beeny began pushing that part of the business more, ending with the decision to re-brand the business in September as The Leading Leather Company.

With her own workshop on the farm premises, she buys in cowhide from specialist dealers, cutting, stitching and finishing her goods by hand using traditional methods taught during her training. "It can be quite hard on the fingers, but they toughen up and you get used to it after a while," she said.

However, it is not just her workaday goods that are in demand. She has hides in specialist colours - she was working on a vibrant pink one when the D&S Times called - turning them into jewelled collars which are particularly popular with toy dog owners, or studded, broader ones for bigger pets.

She is the proud owner of a card and signed photographs sent to the family by Radio 1 DJ, Jo Whiley, who was delighted by a collar and lead made for her dog by Ms Beeny.

The name change has also seen a shift in the way she markets her goods, and although still attending local agricultural shows she has also entered the big league. She attended Darlington Dog Show in September, the Discover Dogs Show at Earls Court in October - which generated a great deal of interest - and is hoping to go to Crufts in March.

Her latest venture, which has been a move from animals to people, also sees her making belts and items to order, which can be seen and bought via her web site, www.theleadingleatherco.co.uk.

She loves living and working in Teesdale and, with the world open to her via the internet, does not feel that her business suffers in any way from isolation.

"Friends who visit from Kent are astonished that there is still so much space and greenery around us," she said. "Although there are pockets of open countryside down there, they are gradually becoming swallowed up by the demand for housing."

Her and her partner's mothers - Dorothy Beeny and May Shepherd - have since moved to Teesdale and are a great help and support in the business.

"The children all help in one way or another as well, so it is a real family affair," said Ms Beeny.

She paid tribute to the staff at Teesdale Enterprise Agency, including Shaun Stuart and Charlotte O'Byrne, for their help and support.

She also thanked Les Sparks and Agnetta Palinder of the Free'n'Easy Saddle Company, Teesdale District Council business grant scheme and the North Pennines Leader Plus programme.

* To contact The Leading Leather Company, telephone 01833 650069 or 07817 022241.