Customers love new fragrances, and our part in a Lancashire yoga festival has helped to shape our product range. We now offer Yoga mat spray, candles and diffusers at our Milnrow eco shop…
The Milnrow Wellbeing & Yoga Festival was the launch point for Tarn Candles. It was back in the summer of 2019; we’d be making candles for about ten months – mainly for friends and family, Christmas presents and other gifting occasions. In fact, the idea stemmed from an idea developed on the popular TV show Escape to the Chateau. Angel, partner of Dick Strawbridge, created homemade candles using beautiful old teacups. We loved them and thought we’d have a go.
Unique candle blends
The early essential oil blends we created had been well received, so the early part of 2019 was an intense period of testing candles and wax melts. We developed six unique candle blends, and the summer yoga event was our inspiration. We had to get the branding, labels, craft stall and display ready in time for the big day. It certainly focused our minds.
And what a day! The sun shone, an incredible array of yoga, meditation, dance and other performance arts took place on Milnrow Park, alongside about thirty craft stalls and veggie food vendors. It was a huge success, attracting people not only from Rochdale, Newhey and Littleborough, but much further afield from Manchester and Yorkshire. We were hooked.
Lancashire Candle Company
When you enjoy a cracking event and sell loads of your candles and wax melts you obviously want more, much more! Tarn Candles progressed quickly and soon became a Lancashire Candle Company of note. We attended craft fairs and Christmas markets through to the end of the year and prepared for more of the same in 2020.
Then Covid happened! By now we had a base, a lovely unit in a repurposed mill that once upon a time produced cotton products. Modern day Albert Mill in Milnrow is now a hive of small businesses, makers and craft workshops. The summer yoga festival, however, was one of many event victims of the pandemic that swept the country – in fact the world.
Disappointed, we carried on as best we could. We did local deliveries and improved the website. Sadly, the yoga festival just couldn’t happen that year.
Craft fairs return
When life returned to what most considered normality it was great to hear that Pete and his team would be running the Milnrow festival once again in July 2022. We didn’t hesitate to book a table, keen to showcase the growing range of candle blends that we had developed since the inaugural event.
Since our first tentative steps into the world of candle making, we had expanded our offering. We added natural reed diffusers to our craft fair tables, the candle shop and the Tarn Candles website, and for the return of the Yoga Fest we had another product up our sleeves.
Patchouli, Bergamot and Lavender pure essential oils
Enter “Devoke” our yoga mat spray. A fresh and cleansing blend of Patchouli, Bergamot and Lavender pure essential oils – packaged in our funkiest colour scheme yet. Most of our candles and diffusers had muted pastel shades but we decided that a vibrant, tie-dye inspired palette was required.
Another great day, bumper sales for Tarn Candles, and an amazing reception for our spray from customers and the assembled yoga teachers. Within weeks we had more feedback and requests for the Devoke blend in candles, wax melts and diffusers.
So, thank you to everyone for the wonderful comments about this gorgeous blend – no matter how you enjoy it.