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Author Topic: Woolfest 2019 - 28 & 29 June - still the best event of its type in the UK  (Read 3582 times)

namethatsheep

  • Joined Jul 2015
Woolfest 2019 - 28 & 29 June

The original and still the best wool event.

https://www.woolfest.co.uk/

"Woolfest is known for its fine display of fibre-producing animals including several rare breeds, local Cumbrian fell sheep breeds and plenty of experts, farmers and breeders for you to chat with to find out more.

"Sheep breeds attending Woolfest in 2018 included:  Boreray, Border Leicester, Castlemilk Moorit, Cheviot, Exmoor Horn, Hebridean, Herdwick, Jacob, Manx Loaghtan, North Ronaldsay, Portland, Ryeland, Shetland, Soay, Teeswater, Wensleydale.
We will also have alpacas and angora rabbits on display too."

There'll be lots happening in the Main Ring in 2019 with the Rare Breeds Parade each afternoon, readings and talks by Debbie Zawinski and Andrea Meanwell and a hand-clipping shearing demonstration by Paul Murray on Friday afternoon. There will also be a sheep-themed craft auction on Saturday (see below).

This year, the Small Ring will be taken over by Northern Heartlands, a Great Place Scheme funded by Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England. Hefted To Hill explores the values that underpin family farming in the North Pennines and features work by artist/ philosopher, Ewan Allinson and photographers, Richard Glynn and Louise Taylor."







Exhibitions and Events at Woolfest


Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Actually I stopped going a few years ago - just too many people, it just wasn't enjoyable anymore.

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Actually I stopped going a few years ago - just too many people, it just wasn't enjoyable anymore.


Snap!!  Such a pity as I like a dose of yummy fibre joy from time to time, and to meet up with kent faces, but just too many people to fight your way through and such a noise  :( .  I tend to go once every few years, just in case things have improved, but they never have.
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

namethatsheep

  • Joined Jul 2015
I went to Woolfest this year. As Friday reached temperatures of 25C in the Lake District I decided to go on the slightly cooler Saturday. It was a great show. Stallholders advised me that visitor numbers were down due to the warm weather which though less than ideal for vendors made for a most pleasant experience as one could move easily along the aisles and spend time viewing wares and talking to stallholders. A couple told me that Yarndale - of the northern shows - is now the busiest in terms of visitors and turnover but Woolfest has a wider variety of interests. Not having been to other shows I have no reference point though I might try the Perth Festival of Yarn as it is close.

The whole fleeces as always were doing a roaring trade. Peter Titley gave an informative 1 hour  talk on Britain's sheep breeds. Andrea Meanwell - farmer, writer and poet - gave readings from her latest books and shared her experience of farming Rough Fells, Herdwicks, Speckled Welsh  and Ouessants at Orton (near Tebay service station on the M6). (I missed the Debbie Zawinski talk on the Friday - but liked her publication 'In the Footsteps of Sheep', a journey through Scotland walking, spinning and knitting socks.)

In respect of sheep I recall Wensleydales, Castlemilk Moorit, Soay, Boreray, Hebs, Ryelands, Shetland, North Ronaldsay, Border Leicester, Jacob, Herwick, Exmoor Horn, Blue-faced Leicester, Derbyshire Gritstone and - a new breed for me - Bowmonts (which are really Saxon Merino x Shetland), which have a beautiful fleece and look like a tidy animal. I may have missed some. Other animals included Angora rabbits and Alpacas. The club stands were good - special mention for Hebridean, Shetland and N Ronaldsay.

There was also  a preview of the Hefted to Hill exhibition which would certainly be worth looking out for if you are ever in the North Pennines - it's a project to portray the cultural heritage of the NP created by upland farming through the lives of seven farming families. Some of the photography was spell-binding.

I thought it was a really good show this year with a good mix of products and events. I'm already looking forward to next year's.

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Thank you for the write-up namethatsheep.  Interesting it was not as crowded as previously.  We couldn't have gone any way as we were getting in the hay in a fight against the weather and the gremlins - big bang followed by deathly silence from the baler!
Did you buy any yarn, fleece, equipment or anything else?  One time I bought a sheep there, a lamb in fact, and he turned out to be a right wee b*&$$£^, but very cute though  :eyelashes: .
Maybe I will try to get there again next year, although I have all the equipment and fleece I can possibly justify.  There is a good atmosphere there, when it's not crowded, and loads of folk to bump into from various converging worlds.
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

 

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