Finding out about what happens to fleeces when they leave the farm

Josephine Laing takes up the offer of a visit to a British Wood depot and finds there is much to be learnt for the flock owner

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Whatever preconceived ideas I might have had before my visit to the Evanton British Wool Depot were quickly dismissed as soon as I entered the building. 2025 was the 75th anniversary of the Wool Marketing Board, as it used to be called and we were greeted with cupcakes and hot drinks. I didn’t expect that! Then we had a welcoming chat before moving off on the guided tour of the works. I've always had a penchant for doing my own thing and I was soon in conversation with Damian, one of the staff who seemed to be keen to answer my questions. Out of the corner of my eye I could see my daughter had the same idea and was busy chatting with someone else by one of the large containers, or skeps, used for moving wool around the depot. I was particularly interested in lustre wool and when Damian mentioned there was some black Bluefaced Leicester wool we could look at, we quickly made our way in that direction. I’ve never seen ‘really black’ BFL before and it was truly amazing. Wonderfully soft and the colour was very good, if not totally black, but then is there ever such a thing as a totally black fleece? The BFL is one of the most valuable fleeces and the coloured is particularly sought after.

One of the things that also caught our attention was the archive, which was displayed on several of the compressed wool bales to one side of the building. So many fascinating articles and photographs from the old days of the British Wool Marketing Board, which in itself would merit several hours of attention, but unfortunately, we only had a few minutes to try to take it all in before moving on.