Leather & Sage

20 September 2025

Finding new beginnings through the quiet rhythm of bookbinding

Deep in the historic heart of Ludlow, Caitlin Broad handcrafts timeless journals designed for adventures, stories, and quiet moments of reflection, each shaped by her love of history, folklore, and the wild Shropshire landscape around her.

Here’s the Leather & Sage story.

Leather & Sage was just a wish to begin with. It lived in a space in my mind reserved for day-dreaming – the fantasy I played around with after deciding that winning the Euromillions was a tad implausible. This imaginary business, which remained an entirely impossible reality to my mind, became what I dreamt about during dreary office hours and through the stress of department reshuffles, deadlines, and, of course, the Covid pandemic. I had left teaching to work in national assessment in central London and owning a business felt like something that would never be more than a dream.

After coming face to face with complete burnout and being blindsided with a couple of serious health issues, I decided not to waste any more time. I quit my job and took some time to re-evaluate what was important to my life (and, naturally, made it into a to-do-list).

As a stationery addict, I could never find the perfect notebook, so I crafted my own. I made every kind of notebook, planner, sketchpad and to-do-list I needed – and eventually started working with leather. It was a long road, but after dealing with surgery and a total lifestyle adjustment, I realised that I needed to take advantage of living and change my perspective on what was truly impossible. As it turned out, I was very lucky and this tiny, once imaginary, business has been my path to recovery. As such, I have made it my priority to jam-pack it full of the thing at the top of my handmade “important stuff in life” to-do-list: meaning.

There was something ancient and magical about the land

I am, for the most-part, a one-woman band but it would feel disingenuous to describe Leather & Sage as a personal accomplishment, or a mountain that I have climbed alone.

I have been incredibly fortunate to find a very patient partner, who is often used as a guinea pig for new products, and can be found at events across Shropshire, Herefordshire and beyond representing the business and doing an excellent job as a leather journal specialist. He has been firmly rooted at the centre of this adventure since the very first notebook, early folktale drafts, and failed branding attempts, and he remains a constant fount of support and imagination. I also suffer from the very high (some might even say snooty) standards of my workshop companion, Kenna the Greyhound.

Both are steadfast and limitless sources of inspiration and adventurous spirit.

Every journal is made in the heart of Ludlow, Shropshire, and inspired by the wilds of the British countryside – but my workshop was once an 18th century inn.

The Golden Lion was one of the town’s leading coaching inns from 1742 through to the 19th century and, as an ancient history graduate, I feel oddly at home among the old brick, wooden beams and tudor panelling of what has become my office. I often wonder what stories began at The Golden Lion, and whether any were recorded in someone’s pocket journal.

We describe ourselves as nomadic in nature, and have spent many years travelling across the country or living abroad. We were brought to Shropshire in 2024 by feeling more than any practical reason. The towering, gnarled trunks of trees lining the roadside; the green blanket of Mortimer pine reaching across the horizon; the harsh quartzite ridge of the Stiperstones; and the Mynd – rolling hills as far as the eye can see, soaked in amaranthine heather, broken only by murmuring streams.

In short, we fell in love.

There was something ancient and magical about the land and it cast a charm over us that was sorely needed, a spell of peace and calm. I have always been drawn to stories, whether they be new or old, and the folktales of the borderlands are a fascinating curiosity – the Welsh Marches are home to so many traditions, tales, and hedgerow folklore that I feel wrapped in generations of knowledge and inspiration.

Leather & Sage was always a name designed to be taken literally, though, not in the herbal sense (unless you press herbs and flowers which would, in our opinion, be an excellent use of one of our Wayfinders).

Our journals are crafted for adventure and built to hold all of the lore, poetry, and knowledge you learn along the way. We don’t believe that we can achieve sage wisdom by any quick means, but rather through a slow and deliberate course of exploration, curiosity, and patience. Leather & Sage is a business built around the ethos of slow living, adventure, poetry, art, nature, knowledge, and the weaving of stories that can be passed down through generations.

It’s very important to us that we remain as sustainable as possible, so every element of our journals has been sourced with care and we don’t contribute to leather waste. We make a range of accessories which are constantly changing because they are all crafted from rescued leather – leather offcuts from large warehouses and textile companies which are surplus to requirements.

I will always bring a selection of accessories to markets around the county, varying from belt pouches, to bookmarks, to keyrings, to glasses cases, depending on the leather I have to use. Every product is unique, and you may never see the same leather twice.

Our journals are crafted and bound by hand in our home workshop, individually and in small batches. I usually make website purchases to order, so each journal is tailored to and crafted especially for its owner. Made from premium, beautifully soft, veg-tanned leather in shades inspired by nature which will only enhance with age and wear, the leather we use has been sourced from a family-run UK business and carefully selected for its durability, look and feel, and impact on the environment. We buy only what we need, and we don’t waste any of it… It smells pretty wonderful, too.

some of the most memorable moments of my life can be found within the last twelve months

When developing our journal ranges, I was very aware that generic paper simply wouldn’t do. I needed to create a practical journal that was actually useful to different types of people. In the end, I designed ranges that I have always wanted for myself but could never find. Our Wayfinder range is specifically designed for creativity and includes both sketch and watercolour options with professional-grade artist’s paper.

Our Ourobros range is for the note-takers, doodlers, mathematicians and anyone who has lots of thoughts on the go. With detachable notebooks, it’s our take on the traveller’s journal – just with a bit more heft and the option to customise your notebooks. Every so often, if you see us in person, we may even have a Croft Journal for sale. Affectionately known as Big Bertha, the Croft is an A4, bound, watercolour-capable tome which feels as if it should be filled with paintings of obscure plants next to scribbled notations of their medicinal qualities.

There are stationers galore across the UK and abroad, not least Amazon, and I knew when I began that I would have fierce competition. I think what sets Leather & Sage apart is the personal side of our little business – I am regularly in touch with many of our customers and meet a good number of them in person at the events we attend.

After a few months of getting to know our customers, it became obvious that, in order to provide something that lasts a lifetime and is suitable for everyone to fill with their own personal brand of wisdom, we needed to give people the opportunity to build their own journal. After all, every adventure is unique. We launched the custom journal service several months ago alongside our rebinding service, which ensured that all of our journals are refillable, and we haven’t looked back.

We also introduced our Folktales for the Brave initiative this year. As lovers of folklore, mythology, the written word, and, really, anything that encompasses the great outdoors and a drop of imagination, we decided this was the perfect way to champion our ethos. With every journal, you will find a short extract from a folktale. Once every chapter of that folktale is in circulation, the full tale will be made available to read on our website’s journal.

So far, the initiative has been popular and had the exact effect we were hoping for: people are sharing the stories they heard growing up. We’ve even heard a few accounts of a giant black dog stalking across the moor…

Something that I always knew but never fully understood: running a small business is hard. And not just because of the hours, the workload, the indefinite number of skills you’re required to learn overnight (because you had no idea how much maths and marketing were involved)… They are all factors, of course. But the hardest thing about it is having to bet on yourself – and asking your family to do the same.

Starting a business, especially one that revolves around expensive materials and traditional craft, involves a serious investment of time, money, and courage. It’s still frightening even after the growth and sales we’ve seen in our first year and I expect the fear to linger well into year two and beyond. I’ve had weeks where sales fell so far below target that my confidence has crashed only to sell out in one day the following week. It may be a cliche, but this experience has been one wonderful monster of a rollercoaster.

The lows can be rough, but the highs more than make up for them. In fact, some of the most memorable moments of my life can be found within the last twelve months. If I were to choose the most impactful, they would all revolve around our customers and the stories we’ve shared. From journalling their adventures across the globe, to writing their next novel, or recording the memories shared with a late husband, we’ve had the opportunity to laugh and cry with the people behind the sales.

Since launching the custom journal option, I have enjoyed the most brilliantly human interactions. Many of my custom orders have been gifts to loved ones where the customer has the option to include a personalised cover page. I always ask if there are any styles, symbolism, or values that are important to the recipient when designing the pages and I will always remember one particular email from a very loving Mum who was ordering a travel journal for her daughter’s birthday. She produced a thorough list of everything I had asked for and, though she wasn’t sure if it would be helpful, she felt it was crucial to include that her daughter was kind.

The most beautiful realisation I’ve had is that every Mum who has placed an order for their child has said the same thing.

It can be difficult to plan for the future during times of instability. The first year of business is infamously unreliable, and it seems that we are all being impacted by the cracks appearing on the world stage, too. At the moment, we don’t ship internationally but I would like this to change – for that, I can only cross my fingers that the world will right itself.

Fortunately, we have plenty of plans for the UK to keep us occupied.

Our first exciting development is the result of months of plotting and designing. We are currently launching our first limited run of six month planners designed to fit our Ouroboros journals. The Autumn run will be offered first to our email subscribers before appearing on our website, and the second limited run will be in Winter, just in time for Christmas.

We are also getting ready to post more folktales on our website (a heads up to anyone who’s been reading the tale of Reynardine and likes him… You won’t enjoy the ending) and we’re preparing the next phase of our story-telling initiative, The Penasium. More details will be revealed in coming months, but it’s all in aid of helping story-weavers, artists, explorers and adventurers get in touch with nature and their imaginations.

There are other sparks of potential still forming but we need to keep a few secrets…

Thank you Caitlin, I do love reading a story about a life event nudging a daydream into reality, it feels almost like the founder’s fairy tale. It was such a delight to stumble upon you at an artisan market, and to discover not only a beautiful product but also an equally beautiful story behind it.

Do you have a founder story to share? We’d love to hear from you.

Submit your website and we’ll be in touch.