When heather Webb sees a flock of sheep, she has visions of fleeces and yarns of wool.
That’s because she’s spent the last three years building up a project that ploughs the profits from sheep shearing back into the environment.
Keeley Knowles finds out more . . .
Aptly named Nude Ewe (using 100 per cent pure undyed wool) was set up by 41-year-old Cranfield resident Heather Webb in 2008 and since then it’s grown from flock to flock.
The former Bedfordshire County Council biodiversity employee, who moved here from Canada - where there aren’t many sheep - said: “It was really cold in County Hall and I remember one day I saw a load of sheep and thought ‘I should be able to get a jumper out of them’.” After a bit of research and discussions with the Wildlife Trust, Heather discovered that they were losing money in sheep shearing, getting just 15-20 pence for every fleece sold against a cost of £1 to shear each of the animals.
Now she co-ordinates the ‘haircutting’ of up to 600 conservation grazing sheep (not sold for meat) across Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire sending off 40-50 kilograms of wool a year.
It’s spun in Cornwall - one of the few places to do it - and sent back in balls which are then sold.
And then the profit - which works out at around 6,000 per cent in some cases (£330 for 20 kg) is returned to the flock owners to offset the shearing and stock management costs.
The initial funding for spinning the first batch of fleeces was provided by the former county council then additional backing came from the Chilterns Conservation Board and Natural England. But since then the project has been almost self-sustaining.
Heather, who lives with her husband, Ian, and two cats, said: “Initially I thought the people buying our yarn would be local but our customers are from all over the UK.
“We’ve also had interest from the USA and I recently sent our first order out to Spain.
“I half expected us to be affected by the recession but we haven’t been. I think people are spending less and are making things. People have really taken to the idea.” The wool comes from a number of different breeds including one of Heather’s personal favourites the North Ronaldsay - an endangered breed from Orkney Island - who have a soft grey fleece.
The Wensleydale variety are also popular with people buying the wool and Heather explains that they all have different qualities but her underlying message at work and home is clear: “If it can be made out of textiles then it will be.” Currently based at Priory Country Park, Nude Ewe is a non-profit enterprise that turns the ‘waste’ fleeces into a commodity returning the profits to the local economy. It also offers a ‘fleece brokering’ service which puts hand-spinners in touch with rare breed owners around the country helping small graziers earn money by selling their fleeces directly to customers.
You can get your hands on some of the wool in around five shops including Moonstone Yarns in Henlow.
And things are looking ‘baaright’ for the future. Heather recently became a finalist in our Local Business Accelerator Scheme and in July she’ll be at the Fibre East festival at Scald End Farm, Thurleigh.
So the next time you see a flock of sheep just think of that woolly jumper that could be keeping you warm! For more information visit www.bedslife.org.uk/nude-ewe/
A few woolly facts:
The Hebridean is an ancient breed descended from sheep domesticated by our Iron Age ancestors
The Manx Loaghtan is a small primitive breed which was rescued from the brink of extinction by a group of enthusiasts on the Isle of Man and England
The Nude Ewe has won awards from the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Chilterns Conservation Board and The Green Organisation
