Latest news with #rarebreedsheep
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Cornwall farmer urges consumers to pick high-quality fibres
For Caz Rimmer, from Cornwall, using natural wool is a way to cut down on plastic."A lot of cheap yarn is just acrylic," she said. "It sheds in the washing machine, it sheds when you are walking around, so you're literally putting microplastics into the environment."The rare breed sheep farmer is one producer trying to tap into what some in the industry have said is a resurgence in consumers seeking out eco-friendly and renewable materials. Bosses at the Natural Fibre Company, a woollen mill in Launceston, said they did business with more than 100 rare breed sheep farmers, as well as commercial flocks, to create a product mixing bobbin waste with natural wool fibres. Ms Rimmer, who has Wensleydale and Teeswater sheep, said she processes the fleeces at the Launceston mill and then hand dyes makers tend to use Wensleydale and Teeswater wool for their hair and it is also used for felting. "I wanted to do something with wool that was different," she said."There's a lot of people knitting and crocheting... but not everybody can knit and crochet." Ms Rimmer said the mill was "like having a sweet shop on the corner"."The key ethos of my business is nature and sustainability and sending wool up to Scotland is just madness when I've literally got one of the best mills in the country on my doorstep," she said."I've got a big kick against plastic it was really important to me that any yarns that I had spun didn't have any acrylic in it. "So all of our yarns are 100% natural fibre, which means you don't get the microplastic shedding."So it was a case of it needs to be 100% natural and biodegradable, and working with the mill they can achieve anything if you ask."Specialising in small batches, the mill blended Ms Rimmer's white fibre with bobbin waste that is a result of the processing of another farmer's wool. Katie Waller, a Falmouth University graduate who now works at the mill as an apprentice knitwear designer, said the process was "amazing". "I came to visit here on the national manufacturing day and I fell in love with the whole processing because it is so cool," she said."I get to experiment with so many different wools and different blends which I otherwise wouldn't be able to. "I either knit samples for customers who want to see what they can do with their yarn and I also design and knit things and make hand knitting patterns that people can purchase. "People are moving away from synthetic fibres and polyester and choosing natural fibres and adding to your fleece is what we can do here."
BBC News
15-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
How an orphaned Devon lamb changed estate agent's life
Flashy cars, a prestige job and plenty of money - high-flying estate Stephen Keighley had it all. Underneath, he knew "something was badly wrong"."One morning I was driving to work, and tears started coming down my face," he said."I pulled over, rang into work and said, 'I'm not coming in' and they said, 'will you be back tomorrow' and I said, 'No I'm never coming back' and that was it."Mr Keighley left his London life of 25 years and moved back to Cornwall, where he had grown up. Despite being back home, he still struggled. That was until five years ago when a friend gave him an orphaned lamb named Benny to care for - giving him a purpose that "changed his life". "Having to care for Benny 24/7 and help him survive gave me a motivation and a purpose in life that perhaps I had been missing for a few years," Mr Keighley explained."My mental health wasn't in the greatest place in the world and perhaps Benny came along at the right time for me."Mr Keighley, who grew up in Launceston, then bought two more sheep to keep Benny company and soon realised he had found his calling - to be a shepherd. He now has a flock of 38 rare breed sheep having swapped his office for fields near Vixen Tor on Dartmoor, in Devon. "It's a complete and utter contrast from what I was doing and what I did for the majority of my life," he said."I used to drag myself out of bed when the alarm went off, put on a sharp suit and go to work."Now I spend my days in tatty clothes covered in sheep poo, but I no longer need an alarm - as soon as the sun comes up, I can't wait to get out here."He said he would not change a thing."I've learnt a lot from sheep in terms of life experience," he said."They've taught me how to just 'be'."Just to stand back and watch their social interactions, the way they happily spend their days happily grazing and lying around, that taught me life doesn't have to be as fast-paced as mine had been."It's given me time to reflect and to work out what's important in life." As for Benny, he is now a fully grown ram. Mr Keighley, who kept him as a pet, said he was definitely not for sale.
