The farm & cottages blog

Clipping time at Eastside

12 Oct 2012Posted by Susan Cowan

We were too busy clipping (Ali) and rolling fleeces (me) to get this blog on time but better late than never!

The photo shows Ali clipping. He starts in June with the 400 hoggs or one year old sheep being clipped for the first time. They have grown an early "rise" or thin layer of new wool that makes the job easier. We have to wait until July for the older sheep or ewes to produce this "rise" as they have had lambs and milk production which makes a significant demand on their resources. Ali says that in sheep that haven't been thriving and have no rise, it's like cutting through thick felt! Once the 1300 ewes are clipped (with a helping hand from Lance Armstrong for the last 400) it's on to the 30 tups or male sheep that are big bruisers and quite a contract and then it's all done until next year.

My job is to roll and pack the fleeces which are full of lanolin. This waterproofs the animal and although your hands get very dirty, your skin gets moisturised and softened. In fact lanolin is one of the by products of wool that's used in manufacturing all sorts of cosmetics and creams.

The fleeces are then packed into giant wool sacks or "sheets" (about 40 in each one) and sent off to the Bristish Wool Marketing Board in Galashiels. There it gets graded and baled up for further processing. Blackface fleeces like ours have quite course wool and is used mainly for carpeting. Check out http://www.campaignforwool.org for other uses and join their wool lovers campaign! Wool lovers unite!

LoveWool UK (LWUK) looks set for another fantastic year with the wool lovers of the United Kingdom (and further afield too) snapping up the chance to collectively celebrate ‘real’ wool.

The free-style event, which will run during the Campaign for Wool’s Wool Week – Monday 15th – Sunday 21st October 2012 allows people of any locality to join in and create their own woolly event – large or small.

Supported by Rowan Yarns and Jamieson and Smith, LoveWool UK simply offers a loose framework for getting ordinary lovers of wool involved with HRH The Prince of Wales’ Campaign for Wool (CfW). The CfW is now in its third year and supports sheep farmers and the wool textile industry with a range of high profile wool promotions during Wool Week.

Wool Lovers are simply invited to sign up online via the Campaign’s website – www.campaignforwool.org. Free patterns and kits from Rowan and Jamieson & Smith as well as from the British Wool Marketing Board are downloadable for those that sign up.