on We shared this photo by Jeni Reid here a few days ago. This beautiful coloured fleece was discarded with only the white ones from the clip being sent on to the Wool Marketing Board. Many of you commented that you would have found a use for the fleece and that this lovely wool really shouldn’t… Continue Reading Nature's Natural Colours
on Stella Sutherland is a writer from Bressay, Shetland. She has written four collections of poetry, contributed to a number of anthologies and written articles. I have always enjoyed Stella’s poetry which connects to animals and the landscape – a landscape very recognisable to me, as a Bressa’ lass myself. I was reading through one of… Continue Reading Wovember Words: Shetland Ewe
on Kate Graham has been the tenant farmer at Shankend, in the Scottish Borders, since September 2010. Not only has she successfully run her sheep sponsorship scheme this year (more of which we will be learning about later this week) but work at Shankend certainly keep her busy. With the average age of UK farmers reaching… Continue Reading Adventures in farming: Kate from Shankend
on ‘Shetland ewes from Yell. Taken at the National Association of North Atlantic Sheep and Wool Conference in 2013. Lovely wise faces.’ – Jeni Reid
on The practice of putting bells on one’s sheep is no longer widespread in the UK, however there is some evidence that it was once much more popular in the UK than it is today, and sheep bells still seem to be used in other parts of Europe. The sounds of sheep bells featured in a… Continue Reading Wovember Words: Canisters and Cluckets
on It is Friday night, folks, and we thought we would share some extraordinary archival footage detailing the complex relationship between WOOL and PETROL. These films are both from the 1950s and were found in the amazing Prelinger Archives. They are each very interesting when viewed from a certain critical perspective. The first film is called… Continue Reading Friday Night Vi-EWE-ing with WOVEMBER!
on ‘In the far north west of mainland Scotland is a tiny place called Stoer. This is a brown cheviot fleece that I was given when I happened to walk past the shearers as they worked. The white fleeces all go to the Wool Board and coloured fleeces are generally discarded. What a waste.’
on Continuing yesterday’s theme on tracing garment production from sheep to shawl or – as Sally put it – from back to back, I wanted to share an article I wrote several years ago about Julia Desch. I met Julia when I stayed on her farm and encountered her beautiful flock and The Wool Room. Julia… Continue Reading From sheep to shawl at Beech Hill Farm
on This evening we will learn about a flock of coloured Wensleydale sheep which I met in 2007 and their shepherd, Julia Desch. Here is K.G. Ponting reflecting in his amazing tome – The Wool Trade – on the qualities of this particular breed: Another English long woolled sheep is the Wensleydale which takes its name… Continue Reading Wovember Words: On Wensleydales
on We promised the other day when we showed you this lovely photo of Sally Antill taken by Jeni Reid that we would share some posts written by her during Wovember. Sally Antill and her other half – Michael Baxter – are breeding Soft Fell sheep. The idea is to produce a meat carcass acceptable to… Continue Reading Sally Antill: Soft Fell sheep and their fleece #1