Gryphon School students are celebrating an incredible set of GCSE results today. 14 students gained 10 or more GCSE grades equivalent to the old A* grade, and 39 gained 5 or more grades at that level. Headteacher, Nicki Edwards, said ‘I couldn’t be more proud of all of our students. They have battled through three years of disruption in their education and have achieved these amazing results despite all of the challenges. We look forward to welcoming many of them into our Sixth Form, and wish those students going on to apprenticeships and college courses all the very best for their future. ‘I am very grateful for all of the effort put in by our incredible team of staff to support all of our students in enabling them to reach their full potential.’ Head of Year 11, Laura Bucke said ‘The achievements of this year group are a reflection of their resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity throughout their GCSE years. I am proud of each and every one of them.’
‘super proud’ Ben Titus
Olympia Pudelko – who achieved an amazing 13 Grade 9s – and her friends Sophie Lord and Imogen Kimber said ‘Thank you to all our teachers. We are so proud of everyone and feel shell-shocked!’ Ben Titus is feeling ‘super proud and over-the-moon’ as he joins The Gryphon Sixth Form. As are Barney Griffiths and Liv Bowditch – Barney saying “I am very happy and looking forward to the next steps”. Liv said she was happy and excited to get the grades she needed for her A levels.
In August 2020 and 2021, GCSE and A Level students received results that had been determined by their teachers because examinations did not take place due to COVID. In these circumstances, the Dorset Association of Secondary Headteachers (DASH) agreed that it would not be appropriate to share the unvalidated ‘school’ results, but instead decided to focus on sharing students’ individual successes and stories. The feedback we received from parents and students showed that this approach was much preferred, as it placed the spotlight on their hard work and achievements, rather than a comparison of schools’ performance. For this reason, DASH schools have decided to continue with this approach and ensure that results days remain focused on celebrating the success of our students. Dorset Association of Secondary Headteachers
“I declare before you all, that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service”
It was a promise fully kept. We will remember her for her inspiring dedication to duty and to country. May her shining example live on.
Statement from Angus Campbell, Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for Dorset:
“The country is in deep mourning following the loss of Her Majesty. All our thoughts are with the members of the Royal Family at this most difficult time.
“Whilst still a Princess, on her twenty-first birthday, Her Majesty broadcast a declaration to the country and the Commonwealth which included the words:
“I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”
“Those words encapsulate the love, service and pure strength of character with which Her Majesty has led the monarchy of Great Britain and the Commonwealth over her extraordinary seventy-year reign. It is so special to see the words of a twenty-one-year-old Princess so perfectly foreshadowing her long life of dedicated service to us all.
“We have all lost a unique, loving and determined Monarch who has, over seventy years, not only delivered the extraordinary, devoted service and support she promised at such an early age, but given us so very much more besides.
A visit to Martin Green’s remarkable Down Farm Museum is highly recommended, says Rupert Hardy, chair of North Dorset CPRE
Martin Green demonstrating a stone polishing tool in his Down Farm Museum All images: Rupert Hardy
Martin Green may farm 260 acres of land organically on Cranborne Chase, but he is best known for his extraordinary archaeological work there, and for the impressive Down Farm Museum he set up behind the farm, which is full of his finds – flint tools and prehistoric artefacts from the Paleolithic to the Romano-British period. His family has been farming here since the 30s and he started picking up flints as a child, his curiosity sparked by his father’s interest. The Greens knew the area the farm had prehistoric remains, but their profusion was only unearthed by Martin, who started digging in 1976. His hero was General Augustus Pitt-Rivers, the Victorian soldier, scientist and archaeologist, who excavated many sites on the Rushmore estate and elsewhere. His mentor was Richard Bradley, who became a Professor of Archaeology at Reading University. Although Martin was not formally trained, he worked closely with Prof Bradley in the late 1970s on the Pitt-Rivers project which re-examined the large and important Pitt-Rivers collection of 26,000 archaeological and ethnographic objects to a new museum at Oxford University.
Martin Green (centre, on the mound) leading a tour of the prehistoric sites on Down Farm.
Dorset Cursus There are a number of excavated and sensitively preserved prehistoric sites, including round pond barrows and henges (enclosures surrounded by ditches and banks), on the farm. One of the most extraordinary is the Neolithic Dorset Cursus which crosses the farm. Overall, it runs for six miles, mostly westwards, but this was only fully realised in the 1950s. It is the longest in Britain and Martin has only recently excavated part of it. Originally consisting of a pair of parallel banks, some of the Cursus is still visible. It is assumed the Cursus served a religious or ceremonial function related to its southwesterly orientation following astronomical alignments. From the eastern end you can see the midwinter sun set behind the long barrow on the ridge of Gussage Down; a magical experience if you are lucky enough to get a sunny winter solstice. Martin believes the profusion of sites on his farm related to the location of the Cursus here, but another factor may be the Ackling Dyke, a Roman road which also crosses the farm.
Neolithic Aurochs Another remarkable site on the farm is the Fir Tree Field Shaft, which is estimated to be more than 25m deep, even though it has only been excavated to 13m. The shaft was formed by natural processes due to water percolation from melting glaciers at the end of the Ice Age. Finds in the pit range from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic, covering the period from hunter gathering to farming, and including bones of deer, aurochs, flint tools and pottery. Some of the deer clearly fell in. Aurochs were ancestors of modern cattle, domesticated by Neolithic people but long extinct. Many universities, including Cambridge and Reading, have been involved in the digs on the farm, with students receiving practical courses on excavation techniques and going on archaeological field trips run by Martin. In recognition of his work and knowledge, Martin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science by Reading University. In 2000 he wrote a book about archaeology and his farm, “A Landscape Revealed: 10,000 Years on a Chalkland Farm”, which is a fascinating read. Prof Bradley said of it: ”Martin must be the most professional amateur [archaeologist] in Britain, but his work is so important that the term is simply not sufficient. His achievement is unique, as this book shows us”. One recent development has been the construction of a Neolithic house at the Butser Ancient Farm museum in Hampshire, modelled on the one Martin excavated at Down Farm.
Extinct Auroch and other early cattle skulls found by Martin Green on Cranborne Chase, now on display in his museum
Farmer or archaeologist? Martin sees advantages in his joint roles as farmer and archaeologist which enable him to distinguish what is genuine (or not), such as crop marks. He believes strongly in protecting the environment, and he is in the process of introducing rare breed cattle, which will help establish more wild flowers in his fields. He sees technology as a major aid to archaeologists; geophysics shows how the Cursus functioned. Drones and 3D laser scanning (LiDAR) are also very useful tools, through which more prehistoric sites are being discovered on Cranborne Chase and elsewhere every year. Surprisingly, his favourite artefact is a flint knife found in Yorkshire, not Dorset, which you can see in his museum. Asked what conveys his life’s work he quotes the words of General Pitt-Rivers: “It was if some unseen hand had guided me to be the owner of such a property”.
Dorset CPRE has organised several visits to Down Farm. Groups of six or more are welcome at his museum – please contact Martin on [email protected]. He can lead tours of the prehistoric sites on the farm too, which I thoroughly recommend.
Patricia Miller is CEO for Dorset’s Integrated Care Board, overseeing complex health services and health improvement programmes
Patricia Miller
Having worked for the NHS for more than 30 years, Bolton-born Patricia was appointed as CEO of Dorset Health. She was named as one of 25 rising stars of the NHS in 2013 and is one of only a few ethnic minority CEOs in the NHS provider sector. She was awarded on OBE in the Queen’s Honours list in 2019. Patricia’s mum was a midwife and her dad, and her dad came over with his mum and sisters from Barbados in 1963, the last of the Windrush generation. ‘After my A levels I went to the Caribbean for a couple of years to stay with my grandparents,’ says Patricia. ‘When I came home my mum was adamant I needed a job. She got me an admin role in the local hospital, and I just worked up from there. ‘I had a strong Christian upbringing – my dad and my grandmother were very religious, as is common for Caribbean families. Lots of my values were grounded in Christianity, and I think that probably influenced my career choice. I opted to go into public service because I was brought up with a strong principle of giving back.
Back to Bevan ‘At 28 I was one of NHS’s youngest directors of Information, Management & Technology, but I knew I didn’t want to do that forever. So at 30 I took a career break to do a business degree, and then I came back in to the service in Operational Management – being in a more patient-facing role is where my heart lay. ‘I have never taken a job because I have a huge career aspiration to be a chief executive – it’s just when the sphere of influence or control I’ve had has not been big enough for me to make a genuine difference to local communities, I’ve looked for the next job which will give me more scope in decision making. ‘I was previously a hospital chief executive, but I’ve taken this role in the Dorset health system because I really believe that the NHS has lost its way. ‘Using its power and influence and its ability to work with communities to drive down health inequalities is where its focus was when Bevan set it up, and we need to get back to that. ‘We need to get communities to talk to us about what they really need, but also we need to develop the principle of citizenship, where communities make the decisions about how public funding is spent. ‘I’m responsible for working with other health and government organisations to make sure that we’re not just giving value for money but also driving down health inequality.
It’s where you live ‘It’s so much broader than health services – it’s understanding what we can do to address some of the wider determinates that impact on an individual’s health. ‘Only 20 per cent of anyone’s health and wellbeing is dictated by anything that a health organisation can do. ‘The other 80 per cent is about the quality of housing you live in; the place where you live; whether it’s a healthy environment; what type of education is available; the type of employment you’ve got; and your social mobility. We need to understand the health input required but also appreciate the other 80 per cent. ‘We’re also working with the health providers to make sure they’re giving the best service they can, and if they’re not, then giving them the support to do that. It keeps me busy!’
A burning platform ‘We’re responsible for the entire geographical county, so I’m caring for about 900,000 residents. We work closely with both BCP and Dorset councils, both of Dorset’s hospitals, Dorset healthcare, and with the voluntary sector. We’re currently looking at how we can bring the private sector into these conversations too. When we look at what it costs to live in Dorset, we know that we as employers are actually contributing to health inequalities. At the lowest levels, we aren’t paying high enough wages for it be affordable to live. Not in luxury – just a basic life. And we know that if you live in the most deprived areas in England such as in Weymouth and Portland who are high on the deprivation scale, while your deprivation is real, you are not as deprived as someone who lives within a pocket of deprivation in a fairly affluent community. Because the infrastructure is simply not there to support you out of poverty. It took Wigan ten years to successfully implement a citizenship model. But we haven’t got ten years with the cost of living. My job is to work out how we move some things forward at a much faster pace. Right now we have the opportunity to use this burning platform to do something different very quickly; we just need to work out what we do first.
A life in music And so to Patricia’s eight music choices, along with how and why they stuck in her life:
Island in the Sun The Merry Men This is my childhood! The Merry Men was a band that originated from Barbados, and theirs is some of the first music that my parents played at home when I was small child. Island in the Sun is actually written about Barbados being such a beautiful island.
Free Deniece Williams We had a dichotomy in my grandmother’s house when I was small. My dad worked in textiles and mum was a midwife so they used to work shifts. Me and my brother used to go to my grandmother’s house every evening after school, and I used to stay there at weekends. On Thursday night Top of the Pops would be on – my two aunties were in their late teens and we used to sit and rave over it together. But then on a Sunday, we weren’t allowed to listen to any other music because my gran would have Songs of Praise on. I chose this one in particular because it was one of my favourite songs of the 70s. I grew up in the era, I love this music. And I also love a track where people can really sing and Deniece Williams can sing like a songbird. I still have this song in my iTunes and I play it all the time!
The Greatest Showman Hugh Jackman I really really love musical theatre, and I’ve introduced both my daughters to it – I think they love it almost as much as I do now. We’ve watched The Greatest Showman god knows how many times. We can’t quite turn the volume down and say all the words yet, but we might get there. I just remember seeing this in the cinema, and I was captivated within the first few seconds because of the beat of the first song. Every time I watch it, I’m anticipating and waiting for the beginning because I absolutely love that opening beat! It just draws you in. I love it.
Redemption Song Bob Marley As you can imagine, Bob Marley was a really popular artist for us to listen to at home, and has continued to be. The reason I chose Redemption Song specifically is because when you grow up as a person of colour in the UK, you face the challenges of racism before you get into the normal everyday life challenges. Redemption Song is one of those uplifting tunes. It makes you think that actually, some of your destiny is in your own hands. It can galvanise and motivate you out of a slump. It also talks about the past and issues around slavery. You need to know where you’ve come from to know where you’re going. This song’s just important in its messaging.
Word Up Cameo This was the first concert I ever went to – I went with my best friend when we were 18. The lead singer of Cameo was famous for wearing black shiny leggings – think Olivia Newton John in Grease – and a red codpiece. It was his USP. We were so excited to go to this concert, but a few days before we were watching The Tube when Cameo came on. They were awful! So for four days we were thinking we were going to go to a really awful concert. But the morning we were setting off, Cameo were on the radio, apologising for their performance on The Tube, and they explained their amplifiers weren’t working. We were so relieved! Then we got to the concert and it was absolutely fantastic. The big thing I remember was that they come on at the beginning without any lights, and all you could see was this red shiny codpiece dancing about on stage … But the concert was great.
Testify Sounds of Blackness This song is a reflection of me being brought up in a Christian household. People quite often equate Christianity and gospel music with something that’s really boring, but actually one of the things Sounds of Blackness bring is a different way of doing it. Their songs are grounded in Christian values but they’re R&B dance tunes that happen to be gospel. They bring young people into those values because their music isn’t boring or stifling.
You Bring Me Joy Anita Baker I love this woman. I love her music. I love the fact that every time I watch her sing it looks effortless. I really love this song in particular because it reminds me of my husband (we married in 2000) and my children. But also because it’s just one of those really feelgood songs. It can be applied to anything in your life that brings you joy. I just love it, and I think Anita Baker’s incredible.
Take That Never Forget When I was younger and Take That were really famous I hated them. But now I’m older and they re-formed and their music has matured, I’ve come to really like them. In fact, I’ve been to see them live three times in the last few years – twice I dragged my husband along! He did admit they put on a really good show technically. I’ve specifically chosen Never Forget for my track. I’ve seen the song differently since hearing it live. When I think about my life and my career, I have to remind myself quite often that as a person of colour working in the NHS, I am not the norm, I’m the exception in terms of reaching such a senior role. This song means a lot to me – I need to never forget that. I can tend to assume that everyone else has been able to fight their way through the barriers to get to where they want to be in their career, and that’s not always the case. So mentoring and supporting and breaking down barriers for other people is really important to me.
And if the waves were to wash all your records away but you had time to save just one, which would it be? Redemption Song. I think I could handle anything coming at me if I had that song to listen to.
And the book you’d like to take with you to your island? Maybe I Don’t Belong Here by David Harewood A lot of what he talks about I can relate to in my own childhood. But also because it’s important in a sense of what I think I’m trying to achieve professionally. His experiences of racism, living in this country as a man from Caribbean heritage, led to a psychotic breakdown, then having to recover and now being successful at what he does. There’s something in the message about the way we treat people, the impact it has on them as human beings, emotionally and psychologically, it can change the direction of their life forever.
And your luxury item? A digital radio. Because then I’d have music wherever I was, and if you have music you can deal with anything, can’t you?
The Thorngrove team aren’t terribly sad to see the end of the heat, and are eagerly looking ahead to planting season, says Kelsi-Dean Buck
To be honest with you, this summer was a difficult one. As I discussed last month, heatwaves and drought aren’t really ideal when you’re trying to care for thousands of plants. We were constantly fighting an uphill battle, but a huge credit has to be given to our staff in the glasshouses, plant nursery, and all across Thorngrove. With all the extra watering and care that was required, thankfully we didn’t take too much of a hit with our beautiful plants – many of them looking as beautiful as ever. But it really was a stark reminder just how much of a task it can become if that ‘great Gritish summer’ is actually lacking in its signature showers!
The G&S Show A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by our stand at Gillingham and Shaftesbury show. It was a glorious day in the end, despite some worry of storms, and we always have such a brilliant time at the show. We were so impressed by what many of the local businesses had to offer, and a special well done goes out to The BV for producing the official G&S Show Magazine. It really did feel like such a special community event, and it’s occasions like this which remind us why we do what we do. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
Autumnal switch up We now look ahead to the autumn. It’s planting season, so don’t forget your bulbs! We also have lots of bedding for baskets, borders, and planters; your garden doesn’t have to be any less vibrant. We’ll be swapping out the begonias, petunias and geraniums for pansies, primroses and violas to name a few. The cyclamen are making themselves known too, and it won’t be long before their bright colours are flooding the glasshouses. Another sign of the new seasons … and yes … even that festive one … it’ll be here before we know it! Coming up in October we’ll also see the return of our Hanging Basket Workshops with Chris Francis. So keep your eyes on our website and social media in the next week or so for dates on that. Join for a demo, and then get creative with our gorgeous selection winter basket plants, and take home something unique that you put together with the expert guidance of Chris. We’d love to see you there!
Charlotte Tombs’ successful flower farming business grew out of one packet of sweet pea seeds and some Instagram inspiration. Tracie Beardsley reports
Flower farmer Charlotte Tombs in her little flower garden. Featured flowers – tight pale pink balls are dahlia Megan Dean, and the flamboyant peachy pink ones are dahlia Labyrinth All images: Courtenay Hitchcock
ucked away near Sturminster Marshall is Northcombe Flowers, a professional flower farm squeezed into less than an eighth of an acre. Six years ago this land was bare, save for a few ancient apple trees. For owner Charlotte Tombs, the initial outlay was a £2.50 packet of sweet pea seeds, some back-breaking digging and the foresight to transform her back garden into her business. Now it’s a flower-filled landscape for at least ten months of the year. Huge Café au Lait dahlias – a charming mix of subtle cream and dusky pink and a 2022 bridal favourite – jostle for space with cheerful sunflowers, alongside a kaleidoscope of colours from old-fashioned English roses. Achillea, snapdragons, feathery cut-and-come-again cosmos, scented geraniums, nicotiana, feverfew, sweet Williams, larkspur – every inch of space is jammed with flowers and herbs. A fruit cage of raspberries droop under the weight of their burgeoning harvest. The fruit will end up in Charlotte’s kitchen, the leaves will make ideal foliage in her flower displays.
Charlotte’s guilty pleasure is ‘Aimlessly wandering around the garden with a G&T, picking flowers just for myself.’
Flowers all year There are no militaristic lines of the same flower on Charlotte’s farm. The ethos is simply growing a variety of British flowers without the need for pesticides or air miles. Charlotte explains: ‘It’s possible to grow flowers in the UK all year round – even more so now frosts come later. UK growers used to provide all the flowers for the British market. Narcissi would come from the Scilly Isles as early as December and flower trains would come from Cornwall to London, taking precedence over passenger trains. It was only after the war, when the Dutch government threw lots of money at their flower industry, that the UK got left behind. Now we import flowers from huge industrialised farms that use all manner of chemicals.’
A packet of sweet peas After a career in sales, Charlotte was inspired by a non-profit organisation, Flowers From The Farm, on Instagram. Set up by a farmer’s wife looking to diversify, the site encouraged like-minded people to grow British flowers. Charlotte recalls: ‘I was inspired by Georgie Newbery’s book The Flower Farmer’s Year. I made notes and pored over seed catalogues. I just did the maths. You can sell a sweet pea stem for £1.25 if you’re growing out of season. A packet of sweet pea seeds costs £2.50. I literally started my business from that one packet and now have sweet peas in bloom as early as March.’ When the pandemic hit, Northcombe Flowers was only in its second season. Charlotte says: ‘I was busy. People wanted to send flowers to loved ones, and florists couldn’t get funeral flowers. At first, I felt guilty about jumping on the bandwagon when the world was gripped in such an awful situation. But it made me realise how much pleasure and solace flowers bring to people.’ She now harvests eight buckets of flowers every other day. Her natural approach is on trend, appealing to DIY brides wanting a wildflower wedding.
Charlotte behind a stand of dahlia Arabian Nights
value: retail buckets are £75 for approximately 90 stems of mixed flowers and foliage, and wholesale a bucket sells at £55 for 75 stems. Charlotte’s sales background shows in her confidence. ‘I can stand by my product. I’m more than happy to walk into a florists and ask them to trial my flowers’, she says. As the cold weather sets in, Charlotte’s focus turns to dried flowers – a trend enjoying a huge revival – and she’s rounding off her flower year with Christmas wreath workshops. On New Year’s Day, she sows her first sweet peas, starting the cycle all over again. ‘There’s so much pleasure all year and I never tire of seeing a seedling grow.’
Six years ago, Charlotte’s land was bare save for a few ancient apple trees.
Charlotte’s Café au Lait dahlias are very popular with brides this year
Quick-fire questions with Charlotte:
One flower to a desert island? Cosmos. I love the simplicity and feathery foliage. There’s nothing prettier than a jug of white Purity. Cosmos are also great for pollinators.
Guilty pleasure? Aimlessly wandering around the garden with a G&T, picking flowers just for myself.
Dinner party A-list? Plantswoman Ellen Willmott, an influential member of the RHS in the 1800’s. She used to carry eryngium seeds when she visited friends’ gardens, strewing the seeds surreptitiously as she walked among the beds, hence the plant being called ‘Miss Willmott’s Ghost’. What a great calling card!
Charlotte tests the vase life of her flowers – this is one of her ‘test’ bunches from July. Image: Charlotte Tombs
In their first land event since the pandemic, DOMVS estate agents will host an informative land seminar on Thursday 22nd September – an event that, pre-COVID, was always well attended by local residents. Free to attend and open to the public, the panel of six expert speakers will provide invaluable information to landowners who want to realise development potential for their sites. The event, which will be held at The Crown Hotel in Blandford Forum, starts at 8.30am and will finish at 11am. Polly Greenway, CEO of DOMVS will be joined by Simon Hoare, Conservative MP for North Dorset, Emma Stainwright from Steele Raymond Solicitors, Stephen Johnson from Williams Lester Architects, Peter Cattermole from CB Reid Accountants, Brett Spiller from Chapman Lily Planning and Neil Greenway, who is the DOMVS land specialist. Neil Greenway says: ‘Much has changed in the last few years. There has been the introduction of new Building Control standards, ever-changing planning requirements – most recently regarding phosphates and nitrates – and building cost increases. This is why we’ve gathered together some of Dorset’s most knowledgeable industry experts to help demystify the process. With land-savvy lawyers, architect expertise and insider planning knowledge, attendees can expect to leave better informed about their land assets and their anticipated returns.’ Brett Spiller from Chapman Lily Planning says: ‘We are delighted to join the coveted DOMVS Land Seminar once again. It’s a great opportunity to meet with our local community and share our planning insights.’ With Dorset planning applications currently taking over a year in some cases – far exceeding the Government’s regulatory eight weeks – the DOMVS Land Seminar provides valuable, practical information for what is traditionally known as a difficult process.
Once a major business, English wool is now a wasted opportunity – the industry needs a rethink, says Andrew Livingston
Farm life is built around regular tasks – whether they’re daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal or annual. In the world of sheep farming there is one summer task that is seen as a cost and a hindrance, but which, once upon a time, provided the main income from the flock – shearing. Shearing sheep is vital to ensure the welfare of the animal –removing their thick winter coats keeps them cool and reduces the risk of parasites and disease that can fester on faeces left on their coats. Wool became an important commodity once farmers realised that the material could be spun to make clothes. Shearing is believed to have started around 3,500 BC and is mentioned numerous times in the Old Testament (Genesis 31:19 “When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods …”). In 1276, Florentine merchants agreed to buy 62 sacks of wool for 697 and a half marks from the Cistercian monks at Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire, on condition it came “without clack, lok, cot and breech wool or black grey or inferior fleece and without pelt wool”. Clacked wool had the marks cut off, to avoid paying duties as it weighed less (duties were levied on wool including the coloured marks). Lok was probably daggy wool – wool from the sheep’s rear end with poo on. Cot was coated (tangled) and breech the low quality stuff from the haunches. That black or grey were undesirable colours probably implies this was destined to be dyed. And finally, pelt wool is the wool from dead sheep – which the unscrupulous might mix in to make up the weight. The monks were contracted to sort and weigh the wool and deliver at Clifton 14 to 17 sacks a year for the Florence trade. Each sack was 26 stones (364lb of wool). The Flemish wool industry had such an appetite for English wool that Richard I’s ransom was raised by confiscating the wool clip of the Cisterican monks – Henry VIII wasn’t the first king to rob the monks! John Barton, a 15th-century wool merchant of Holme-by-Newark, Nottinghamshire, had a stained glass window placed in his parish church: ‘‘I thank God, and ever shall, it is the shepe hath paid for all …”
A loss of 75p per sheep In the 19th century, man-made fibres could be easily mass-produced and became a cheaper alternative to wool. They had the additional benefit of being more durable, easier to maintain and more readily available. The rapid expansion in production and use of man-made fibres saw an equal and opposite reaction in the plummeting profits in the wool trade. The price of wool is now so low that it no longer even covers the cost of shearing, let alone making an income for the farmer. Shearers typically charge £1.50 per sheep, with their 2 kilos of wool (on average) selling for around 75p. So what is the answer? At the moment, the price of wool is actually deemed at a high as the price of wool is inextricably linked with the price of crude oil, which is required in the production of man-made fibres. If the cost of those man-made fibres goes up, so do the alternative choices.
Woolly marketing The British Wool board, whose job it is to effectively market wool so that farmers can get a decent return, needs to start working harder for sheep farmers. Currently, British Wool sells wool for its members, but will only handle pure breeds’ fleeces. Some farmers have been proactive in treating and selling their wool. Rampisham Hill Farm, in Hooke, where I grew up, began treating and spinning their wool to sell themselves. Today, they buy fleeces from other Dorset shepherds to meet their orders. Sheep’s wool is also among the top insulating materials for the contruction trade in terms of sustainability. Sheep are shorn every year (some twice) and the wool just keeps growing back! As a raw material, wool is abundant, continuously renewable and locally produced in Britain. It lasts for decades and at the end of its life can simply be composted, unlike oil-based insulation. To manufacture plastic insulation in the first place you need oil, chemicals and lots of energy. Another innovative use of sheep’s fleeces in recent years is as eco-friendly thermal insulating packaging. WoolCool makes this by combining two fleeces on the inside of a box to keep produce cool for up to 72 hours.The fleeces can then be recycled for various roles such as food for roses and protecting plants and flowers from frost. Unfortunately, not all farmers have the time or resources to treat their fleeces to obtain optimum profitability – 1,000 years later we still pay less for daggy wool. Wool is currently a wasted resource; somewhere out there there is an idea that will save the wool industry and make someone a lot of money. I’ve got my own thinking cap on for that big idea … Woollen thinking caps maybe?
