Clark's Little Ark Sanquhar

Clark's Little Ark Sanquhar A result of observing the enjoyment that animals brought to people, Being near the town, people from the local communities began to visit the animals.

Clark's Little Ark began evolving unintentionally in December 2012,
A small piece of land at the former brickworks in Sanquhar, became home to my miniature Shetland ponies and donkeys. Watching the enjoyment shared between humans and animals was so rewarding and the animal family began to grow! In May 2013 ,sadness and heartbreak struck our family, when our beloved son Clark passed away. Although

Clark had many "labels" of disability, he was a happy, loving boy who loved being around happy, smiling people. Clark's Little Ark was named in his memory. We know he would approve of all the smiles that take place at the Ark. The Ark has also helped our family deal with our grief, even on the most difficult days. We have been so lucky receiving support from the local communities and beyond, to help keep Clark's Little Ark free and accessible to all ages and abilities. We are indebted to THE FRIENDS (AND WEE FRIENDS) OF CLARK'S LITTLE ARK, who volunteer their own time to arrange meetings, fundraise, organise open days and manage all donations, bank accounts and paper work. This enables everyone to see where and when their kind donations are being used. We are extremely grateful to everyone who supports Clark's Little Ark in any way at all and hope the smiles continue for many years to come. PLEASE NOTE - Clark's Little Ark can be found at the Old Brickworks. It is situated on the left hand side of the road, just before the civic amenity site, St Mary's Street Sanquhar DG4 6BS. There is very limited parking at the Ark and if specialist access is required please contact Alison Shankly on 07789394138, 0165950123 or email [email protected]
As far as possible, arrangements will be made to meet your needs. Hand cleanser is available at the gate to the yard. For those who don't have mobility problems, parking is usually available at Sanquhar Station, which is nearby.. The Ark is FREE to all visitors - all we ask for payment is a smile.


** ••••SINCE COVID 19 THE FOLLOWING CAN CHANGE DAILY -
( Please feel free to go down the track and enjoy spending time with the animals. If Alison or any the Friend's of Clark's Little Ark are around there will be an opportunity to interact with some of the animals. However, in the interest of Health and Safety, no one is allowed in beside any of the animals unsupervised. If the green gate at the top is unchained, visitors can walk up the newly fenced track (funded by a grant from PROPEL) up to a picnic bench in the top field. The animals will be in paddocks at the side. If the yard gate at the bottom is not chained, it will be possible to enter and visit the animals that may be in the stables, as well as Percy the pig. PLEASE TO NOT PUT YOUR HANDS NEAR PERCY, AS HE THINKS MOST THINGS ARE FOR EATING! If any the gates are chained it means ANIMALS WILL BE LOOSE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ENTER. )****

We hope you enjoy your visit and please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions. The animals will update their news on here :-)
Please allow for their spelling mistakes!! Thank you Alison and Ian Shankly and family (human and animal)

18/10/2025

Thorma is moving much better and certainly got her appetite back!

Thanks to Nisa Local for £25.23 from their collecting tin, to Nith Valley Alpacas for all the buckets, hay nets and foo...
18/10/2025

Thanks to Nisa Local for £25.23 from their collecting tin, to Nith Valley Alpacas for all the buckets, hay nets and food stuff they brought for us to use, although we were saddened that the reason we got them was because they are finishing up 😢 they will be greatly missed.
As always thanks to everyone who helps us in so many different ways.
We are surrounded by lots of lovely autumn colours just now and it’s hard to believe we are nearly at the end of another year! It will soon be 13 years since three miniature Shetland ponies and three donkeys arrived at the old brickworks, no fences, no shelters, no plans for anything but a home for the animals.
But everything happens for a reason ( even if it takes a while for the reason to become clear.)
It is amazing what has evolved in the last 13 years and it is thanks to so very many people that Clark’s Little Ark is what it is today and continues to to be a place that makes people smile 😊

Benny is excited to announce our 2026 calendars are now on sale 😊They are £8 and we have them at the Ark and Sanquhar P...
16/10/2025

Benny is excited to announce our 2026 calendars are now on sale 😊
They are £8 and we have them at the Ark and Sanquhar Post Office (thanks to Mary and Barry)
Thanks again to Ryan at Print Copy Centre too.

Lots of news and thank yous to catch up on and it’s all good 😊 Thanks to Willie and Christine the hens have a new 5 star...
14/10/2025

Lots of news and thank yous to catch up on and it’s all good 😊
Thanks to Willie and Christine the hens have a new 5 star hotel, in fact I think we might find some humans inside it’s so big! Our volunteers are building another shelter up the back too so more cosy accommodation.
Talking of hotels and holidays Rosie and Esme have gone to Tynron for a winter holiday, they also have 5 star accommodation and will save us on winter feeding,as you can see from the photo they have settled in great and we are grateful to Sharon and family for the offer of winter grazing for them. They will come back to the Ark in the spring. Thanks to Coleen and The Granary Dumfries - Belhaven Pubs for the donation of £69.
And thanks to our shearer who has transformed Jeff into a new man! Jeff needs shorn twice a year and he’s got a wee rug to keep him from warm until his wool begins to grow back in.
Watch this space because there will be a story about the wool to follow…
The duck left in a box at the top of the road is doing well, we have named her Thorma, her leg is much better but she’s still in a stable until she gets up to full strength.
More good news tonight, Lucky the winter cat appeared back for the first time this year. We were really worried about her as she hadn’t been seen and a black cat has appeared which seemed to be stealing the food.It was so good to see her again and hopefully she’ll snuggle into the hay shed like she has done every winter for the last 10 years. Goodness knows where she goes in the summer but it was lovely to see her back and finally thanks to Ryan at Print Copy Centre for sorting and arranging the photos for our 2026 calendar ( our human had some of them upside down 🙈)
The calendars will go on sale soon too.

07/10/2025

Happy Birthday Nik.
Thank you for all you do for us 🥳x

Remembering Clark on his birthday ❤️
06/10/2025

Remembering Clark on his birthday ❤️

The calm after the storm 😊
04/10/2025

The calm after the storm 😊

03/10/2025

We usually love a visit from Amy but we’re not keen on this one!

03/10/2025
03/10/2025

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St Mary's Street
Sanquhar
DG46BS

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Our Story

Clark’s Little ARK began evolving unintentionally in December 2012. A small piece of land at the former brickworks in Sanquhar, became home to our miniature Shetland ponies and donkeys. Being near the town, people from the local communities began to visit the animals. Watching the enjoyment shared between humans and animals was so rewarding and the animal family began to grow! In May 2013 tragedy and heartbreak struck our family. When our beloved son Clark passed away. Although Clark had many “labels” of disability, he was a happy, loving boy. Who loved being around happy, smiling people. Clark’s Little Ark was named in his memory. We know he would approve of all the smiles that take place at the Ark. The Ark has also helped our family deal with our grief, even on the most difficult days. We have been so lucky receiving support from the local communities and beyond, to help keep Clark’s Little Ark free and accessible as possible, to all ages and abilities. We are indebted to THE FRIENDS (AND THE WEE FRIENDS) OF CLARK’S LITTLE ARK who volunteer their own time to arrange meetings, fundraise, organise open days and manage all donations, bank accounts, grant applications and paperwork. This enables everyone to see where and when their kind donations are being used. The Friends and much valued volunteers also help with many manual tasks at the Ark where and when they are available. We are extremely grateful to anyone who supports Clark’s Little Ark in any way at all and hope the smiles continue for many years to come. Thank you from Alison and Ian Shankly and Family (Human and animal). Clark’s Little Ark can be found at the Old Brickworks. It is situated on the left-hand side of the road, just before the Civic Amenity Site St Mary’s Street Sanquhar DG4 6BS. Parking is very limited at the Ark and if specialist access is required then please contact Alison Shankly on 07943389018 or 01659 50123, email [email protected] or send a pm on Facebook. As far as possible we will try and make arrangements to meet your needs. Hand gel/wipes will be available at the gates. Please use these after you have touched any animals. For those who don’t have mobility problems, parking is usually available at the Sanquhar Station. The Ark is FREE to all visitors, all we ask for is a smile. Please feel free to go down the track and enjoy spending time with the animals. If Alison or any of the Friends are there it will be an opportunity to interact with some of the animals. PLEASE READ ALL NOTICES AS THEY TELL YOU WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN’T DO WHEN VISITING THE ARK.