It appears that the mood for all things natural and regenerative is changing once again. People around the world are moving back to wool! Many cannot cope with the fact that the polyester fleece we buy today will still be here in 1000 years! And because of this increased desire for pure wool knitting yarn a number of mini woollen mills are emerging around the UK. Their owners buying scrap mill machinery at scrap prices, repairing and maintaining the wonderful old machines which still have lots of working life in them. Many of the Yorkshire and Lancashire Mills have been closed over the last few years with the manufacturing process moved abroad to countries such as China and Turkey. So what a wonderful way to re-cycle and at the same time meet the emerging need for more natural fibre within the UK and around the world.

By nature I have always been keen some say ‘slightly obsessed’ by all things natural, re-useable, recyclable, compostable and biodegradable. I find it difficult to cope with waste and find the continued use of the world’s natural resources worrying. Out of this ethos came Cornish Wools.

Animals in some form or another have always been part of my life with dogs and cats being the bed rock of our family home. Some years ago I owned and bred my own herd of Anglo Nubian goats, kept ducks, geese, chickens whilst looking after our horses, ponies and a lone rescue donkey called Perry. The health of my animals has always been of great importance and this now follows through in determining the health of the animals that are providing the fleece for the Cornish Wools knitting yarns. The health of the sheep can be determined in the fleece, a weak and brittle fleece means the animal is not getting the care and attention it needs, lacking essential minerals and vitamins.

Up to around 100 years ago sheep and the wool it produced was very important to the economy of Britain. The sheep farming industry has gone into decline since then, wool has gone out of fashion giving way to more man made fibres. More and more sheep farmers are ‘giving up’ and ‘calling it a day’ for a number of reasons but the fact that the sheep fleece was worth so little, with some fleece breed types worth only 27p a kg in 2008 has really not helped. At that price it does not cover the farmers cost of shearing the animals! 2010 has shown an increase in wool prices as the fashion turns again to natural fibres but will it come too late for the farmers who are giving up and selling their animals and their farms.

Cornwall is rich in history of fishing, mining and farming and there are many tales to be told of pirates, ship wrecks, revenue men and smugglers. The weather is as unique as the County of Cornwall which is affected very much by the English Channel and the Gulfstream on one coastline and the Atlantic ocean on the other. When it’s misty around Lands End and St Just the sun can be shining in Penzance and The Lizard. .

Cornwall is famous also for its farming – daffodils, violets, caulifowers and Cornish early potatoes not forgetting its sheep and cattle farmers. Fishing of course has always been key to Cornwall’s economy and Cornish miners and their families are to be found all around the world – wherever there is or was a mine.

Over the last 20 years there has been a real shift in Cornwall’s economy, which now relies more on tourism than the farming, fishing and mining it has always been famous for but for all that Cornwall retains its character and sheer rugged beauty for all to enjoy.

So come to Cornwall, to Perranuthnoe and to Cornish Wools and enjoy everyting we have to offer - we would love to meet you.