Fashion – Enter Wales: Novelle Yarn Desk Top Research – Heritage of Welsh Wool in Newtown #5

This past week Eddie Bebb, Commercial Manager at Fashion-Enter Ltd Wales, has continued the ongoing desktop research for the four month Novelle Yarn recycling feasibility study with SMARTCryum and Potter Group with a focus on Welsh wool, its heritage and value today.

The Mid-Wales town of Newtown is the home of Fashion-Enter Ltd (Wales). Situated on the banks of the river Severn Newtown holds an important place in the history of the Welsh woollen trade. At one point the Cambrian Mills within the town were the largest in Wales.

As a result of this abundance of woollen and flannel products local business man Pryce Jones launched his mail order business in 1859 selling Welsh flannels from the building which now houses the FEL factory.

Pryce Jones had an impressive ability as a promoter, and was personally responsible for the success of the Newtown flannel industry in the last part of the 19th century. By the end of the 1860s he was able to claim that Florence Nightingale and Queen Victoria were among his loyal customers.

The glory days of retailing woollen products may be long gone but Newtown still holds an important place in the infrastructure within the British Wool supply chain.

View this link: https://www.britishwool.org.uk/ksupload/userfiles/Farmer/Producer_Booklet/Wales.pdf

Newtown (along with Brecon) are the two wool grading depots within Wales. Newtown covers an area from the north Wales coast to Builth Wells (Home of the Royal Welsh Show) it also takes in fleeces from adjacent English county Shropshire.

The annual intake from the farmers is graded and then sold via an online auction to yarn spinning companies. Some of the product is exported but the majority is sent to the Haworth Scouring and Combing plant to be prepared for spinning.

Link: https://haworthscouring.co.uk/

I had an interesting discussion with Richard Alderson of British Wool earlier this week. He advised that 25% of all UK wool is produced in Wales and that the provenance of Welsh wool is transparent. 

This meets an important criteria we require when making our selection of yarns from UK spinning companies such as Laxtons Ltd of Shipley or West Yorkshire spinners of Keighley.

The team has previously researched the benefits of wool as a biodegradable, natural yarn, this combined with a rich Welsh history and transparency confirms we are on the right track.

More desktop research with SMARTCryum and Potter Group on this sustainable project to follow soon!