Vispring & Jamieson & Smith’s Flock Book Open Day - ‘Meet the Crofters’
We all know that the sheep which grow our world famous Real Shetland Wool are very special but they can only do so much by themselves. For Shetland Wool Week 2017, Jamieson and Smith and Vispring would like to offer you the chance to meet some of the devoted people who care for those sheep at Eric Graham’s Gremista Farm on Saturday 30th September.
The Vispring and J&S Flock Book Open Day brings you the opportunity to meet some of Shetland’s crofting community and Real Shetland Sheep as well as hear talks from J&S’s wool specialist, Oliver Henry. Oliver will be demonstrating both what he looks for in wool ‘on the hoof’ and the raw fleece, this is a great opportunity to see Shetland Sheep in their real environment and will give an idea of the importance of the breed.Event highlights:
- Visit a real Shetland croft, courtesy of Eric Graham
- Meet & speak to Shetland crofters and farmers
- Mingle with actual Flock Book Shetland Sheep
- Hear talks from J&S’s Oliver Henry on Real Shetland Wool and grading
- Enjoy a lamb spit roast and refreshments
- Learn more about Vispring, one of the Shetland wool industry’s biggest supporters
- Event opens at 10.30am, running into the afternoon
- Transport to/from venue from J&S shop, Lerwick (see the map below)
The event will run from 10am into the afternoon and (at the time of writing) tickets are available now from the Shetland Wool Week box office. Some information can be found on the Shetland Wool Week website or you can contact J&S directly, either via their contact page or phone number: 01595 693579
Crofters, Jamieson & Smith and Vispring…The Shetland crofter, or farmer as we more commonly know them on the mainland, has excellent animal husbandry skills and works all year round maintaining and caring for their flock which are often spread across many acres of stunning Shetland countryside.
Once a year they shear their sheep and gather the wool, before bringing it into the J&S wool store to be weighed and sold. J&S buy the vast majority of all wool grown in Shetland and have one-on-one dealings with most of Shetland’s crofting community.
Once J&S take in the wool, the experienced team hand sorts and grades it before pressing into bales for sending down to Haworth Scouring Ltd, in Bradford. Haworth is the most environmentally friendly scour of its type in the world so there is no better place to send Real Shetland Wool.
Vispring, the UK’s premiere bed manufacturer, recognised the superb quality of Real Shetland Wool and fell in love with the Island’s crofting heritage. Realising the fibre’s potential, Vispring began purchasing large quantities of Real Shetland Wool to use in their prestigious bed ranges.
In recent years, Vispring have supported the crofting community through J&S, by sponsoring competitions and various Shetland Wool Week events. These include the Flock Book, Wool on the Hoof competition and the very popular, Vispring Fleece competition.The Real Shetland Company & Adam Curtis Online will be at the event, showing support to J&S and Vispring. We look forward to seeing you there!By ACO & Real Shetland.