Wool Week, Royalty and Rowan I now understand just why Little Bo Peep had such a problem. Wandering up hill and down dale, maybe, but who would ever think of heading into the centre of London’s Mayfair to locate an errant flock? Yet under a cloudless, blue, October sky, Savile Row, that bastion of English style and internationally renowned craftsmanship, was experiencing probably the highest footfall in its recent history and at least two hundred of the feet were the cloven hooves of ruminant quadrupeds tripping gaily over a lush green carpet of neatly cropped grass.
No, really! If you came out of Gieves and Hawkes at No 1 and looked right, you could see a flock of Exmoor Horns, two shepherds, a brace of sheep dogs and a stable full of bags of wool – untreated wool, curly wool, incredibly soft wool, carded wool and brightly coloured yarns. If you looked straight ahead there was a shepherdess and yet more wool, this time firmly attached to the back of a flock of Bowmonts, England’s answer to the Australian Merinos and producers of a super-fine fleece with a diameter of just 15 – 20 micron – a treat to knit and to wear.
Now, being Savile Row, there were a few noticeable
amendments to your average rural scene; the shepherds were all kitted out in bespoke suits and even the sheep dogs were wearing toning tweed outfits. Harry Palmer, Wiltshire farmer and owner of the Exmoor Horns, was actually wearing a suit - made by Anderson and Sheppard, out of cloth spun by Somerset-based Fox Brothers - from the wool of his very own flock.
And that was really the point. The sheep were not lost but had, with much careful planning, a fair few conversations with Westminster Council and some novel signage well outside the usual remit of the urban Highways department, been brought into the heart of the City as for The Savile Row Field Day, one of the events organised for Wool Week 2010, part of the Campaign for Wool, a five-year, cross-industry initiative, convened by HRH The Prince of Wales, to promote wool and try and reverse its gradual decline.
Wool organisations from around the world – growers, manufacturers, designers and retailers – have joined the campaign to highlight to consumers that it’s the ultimate natural, sustainable and versatile fibre and they can wear
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