Summer clipping

It’s shearing time down on the farm, with our very woolly Ryeland sheep being relieved of their fleeces. Most shearers don’t enjoy dealing with this breed. They have wool everywhere: on their bellies, around their face – even down their legs, resembling 1980s disco-dancer’s leg warmers.
Fortunately we’ve found a friendly farmer willing to take on the task of shearing – one of the highlights of the sheep-keeping year.
What to do with the result of all this work? You end up with a pile of fleece which looks like the carpet in a student’s bedsit. It’s full of bits of twig, straw, grass seeds, and other, more rather unsavoury, stuff.
Fortunately I had the founder of Oxfordshire’s world famous blanket weaving empire, Victorian
businessman Charles Early, to provide inspiration.
In its heyday, Early’s Witney blanket industry employed more than 3,000 people, and its blankets were recognised as the finest in England. The establishment of an overseas trade in the 18th century was a further boost to the industry, especially when the Hudson’s Bay Trading Company in North America
began placing regular orders.
Even before Charles began learning his trade, the economy of Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds could be said to have been built on wool. Sheep have grazed here since Roman times. In fact the literal translation of ‘Cotswolds’ is ‘sheep hills’. By the 15th-century the wool trade was bringing great wealth to
local merchants, who built the fine houses and elegant churches which grace the landscape today.
When I first started keeping sheep I sold unprocessed fleeces to local spinners, but most of them ended
up ‘insulating’ the roof of our barn.
At the time, I was amazed at the lack of value put on this glorious and valuable resource, and horrified
by tales of fleeces being discarded or burned. This has changed recently, with fashion designers discovering the versatility of wool.
But, with the weight of all Oxfordshire’s textile history behind me, I felt I should begin tinkering
in the wool trade. I had some of my flock’s wool turned into yarn – and then discovered a weaver in Wales who was making beautiful throws and scarves using wool from my chosen breed, which I took to our local farmer’s market in Wolvercote. This proved successful and this year I hope to produce items to my own design.
Oxfordshire seems to have turned its back on the wool business since Early’s Witney Mill shut its doors in 2002. But a group of local folk are currently working to bring the town’s Blanket Hall back to life.
This was once the meeting place of the local weavers’guild and in the past saw many lively
gatherings. Once restored The Blanket Hall could act as a hub for local spinners and weavers and
perhaps also provide a home for the last remaining handloom used at Early’s, currently at the nearby Cogges Farm Museum.
A restored Blanket Hall may not bring a return to the wonderful sight of Witney blankets hanging on
drying frames alongside the Windrush. But it would be fantastic to see weaving, an industry that
shaped our economy for hundreds of years, return to this bustling Oxfordshire market town.

Woolly thinking

I am in the process of working out what to do with the wool from my flock which has been carefully processed and made into weaving yarn by Curlew Weavers in Wales.

I have to decide between blankets, throws, scarves and maybe cushions. Scarves are a must as they sell well at our local farmers’ market – and people have been asking me about large throws, big enough to cover a sofa or top-to-toe a bed. I am not so sure about about cushions, but they do seem to becoming a popular among interior designers again.

It is an exciting time and, together with our weaver Roger Poulson, we hope to work out a design which says something about the provenance of the wool, which is one of the main reasons I keep sheep. After all, wool is one of the most sustainable natural materials you can get. Each year, sheep produce a new fleece, making wool a renewable source of fibre.

We don’t dye our wool . Our throws and scarves are all designed using the natural colours of the fleeces. Fortunately, Ryeland sheep come in white and coloured fleeces. I am looking forward to welcoming a couple of new coloured ewes this autumn to add to the variety of fleeces we can use.

During October’s Wool Week, people were encouraged to pick up its knitting needles and celebrate all things wool. Knitting parties are being planned for cafés, schools and even beaches as part of the event.

Oxford has some fine haberdashery and wool shops, such as Darn It and Stitch in Blue Boar Street, off  St Aldates, and The Oxford Yarn Store in North Parade, which runs a regular series of courses for beginners and more skilled knitters.

The organisation behind the event, The Campaign for Wool, is inviting people to host their own knitting party for family and friends. To help you cast off in style the campaign is offering invitations and a free knitting pattern for a blanket and matching cushions on its website.

Wool Week celebrations ended with a special appearance by a flock of Merino sheep in the courtyard of the Royal Academy of Arts in London (pictured).

For more information about Wool Week and to download a free knitting pattern, visit the website: www.campaignforwool.org