Shetland Wool Week Remembered…
A guest blog by Martin Curtis, originally published in The Shetland Times on 10th April 2020
Martin Curtis is chairman of the Wool Carpet Focus Group as well as a Council Member for The Campaign for Wool
Martin Curtis presenting Nicholas Coleridge with a Real Shetland Wool Throw embroidered with the Campaign for Wool logo - Keswick, 8th March 2020
So much has happened in the past few weeks that it is difficult to even remember what took place a short time ago - the tenth edition Shetland Wool Week!
Although I am no longer directly involved with Curtis Wool Direct, I still have a place in my heart for Shetland, the people and the wool! My son is, thankfully, carrying the torch for Real Shetland Wool and has put heart and soul and his own money into it so the family tradition continues. I recently had the opportunity to look back and remember how it all started.
I am a Council Member of The Campaign for Wool, an organisation which was inaugurated by HRH, The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles. A meeting took place over a decade ago at Highgrove, Prince Charles’s residence and I was invited to attend. We had a cup of tea and a biscuit and were seated round a very large table. I recall being quite nervous and wondering what was going to be said and if I would be asked any questions. I mentally prepared some answers but when the time comes it is raw instinct and hope that you don’t say something inane!
I listened to what HRH was saying and something clicked in my brain. He said it was up to everyone around the table to do something to help the wool industry, from the farmers through to the consumers. Quite a simple request but we were all involved in the industry at one stage or another and we were hopefully already doing our jobs to the best of our abilities.
On the long drive back home, I started to think about what more we could do to help. We already bought the majority of wool grown in the United Kingdom, Norway, of course Shetland and many more origins and after processing most of it at the scouring or combing plants in Bradford we sold it at home or overseas.
People may not know that wool from different sheep, different areas and different continents has greatly differing characteristics. Some is suitable for fashion, knitwear and suiting for example whereas some is better for interiors such as furnishing fabrics, carpets and rugs and bedding; some is better for hand or machine knitting and there are many more uses. In my mind at least, wool is the best fibre in the world for most things (please take a look at www.woolcarpetsnaturally.org which outlines some of wool`s natural abilities). I also felt that the one wool that had an abundance of the best qualities, heritage and character was Real Shetland Wool! I therefore decided that the primary focus of our attention for the Campaign for Wool should concentrate on wool grown in the Shetland Islands.
Real Shetland Wool could easily be differentiated from other wool types. Jamieson and Smith (Shetland Wool Brokers), handled the vast majority of it already and we owned them. Under the management of Oliver Henry, the wool was graded, sorted and sent to Bradford for processing. I don't think any man alive knew more about Shetland wool than Oliver and he was always more than happy to talk to visitors to the grading shed about the wool, its origin and its heritage. Oliver was training Derek Goodie to take over when retirement came and the skill and knowledge could be passed on to the next generation.
Oliver Henry giving his wool talk to Nicholas Coleridge in the Jamieson & Smith wool store, Lerwick
I knew a fair bit about wool at the time as my father taught me how to value and appraise it at the British Wool auctions which were held in Bradford or in those days also in Edinburgh. I had no in depth knowledgeable about Real Shetland Wool and I learned what I could from Oliver and Derek and on my own through processing it.
Some customers already appreciated the special characteristics of Real Shetland Wool and there was a steady demand for it. Much, however, just went into a blend to be used amongst other “similar” wools and was valued accordingly. We saw the opportunity to make a difference.
I can’t remember the exact timeline for the following events but they happened in a short space of time and rolled into one another pretty seamlessly. I remembered an old photograph that was taken by a colleague of mine when I was working at British Wool. It was of 3 Shetland rams looking over the clifftops into the distance. It was a photograph I loved. Well, it epitomised the whole Shetland story for me and I asked a young designer at British Wool if she could create a simple line drawing of the 3 Sheep and create a logo for me. She produced exactly what I wanted and didn`t need a single alteration and the iconic 3 Sheep Logo was born! This logo guarantees that the product it is attached to is made from wool grown in Shetland. It isn`t “shetland type” wool as so many fake manufacturers call their ranges, it is the Real Thing! Even some folk who should know better label their ranges in a way that is set out to confuse the consumer ~ we have reported several to consumer standards and will continue to do so.
The 3 Sheep
The Real Shetland Wool 3 Sheep logo
So, we have the wool, we can differentiate it from other wools and we can identify it in the market place. We have a platform to work from. I spoke to Oliver Henry and told him that we were going to launch Shetland Wool Week! The event would be complimentary to the national Wool Week events in the UK and around the world. We didn’t ask for any funding and we set about creating what has now become a permanent fixture in the calendar for everyone who has an interest in and a love for Real Shetland Wool, the crofters and wool producers who grow it. Hotels, shops, ferries, rental car companies, hotels and bed and breakfast establishments now benefit from the event that has world-wide followers. The added value to the Shetland economy is huge and although it is hard to quantify exactly it is known to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. It has also increased the amount of money the wool producers receive for their clips and Curtis Wool Direct vowed never to oversell and dilute the authenticity of the fibre. I know that can`t be said for everyone but we stuck to our promises and I am sure the new owners will continue along the same path.
At this stage, if you are still with me, you are probably wondering when I am going to get to the main point of the story. Well, here it is. Nicholas Coleridge, Chairman of the Campaign for Wool, has always supported my requests for assistance in helping to spread the word about Shetland Wool Week. Last September he and his lovely wife, Georgia visited Shetland in order to attend the 10th anniversary celebrations. If you research Nicholas’s career you will understand just how influential a friend he has been to Shetland and how grateful I and the wool producers of Shetland should be to him.
“Ever since my trip to Shetland last September, the Islands have played on my mind. They are extraordinary, unlikealmost anywhere else, and I frequently think of the wild cliff walks we undertook, as well as the kindness of the inhabitants,and the remarkable Wool Week you have established.
Next year is the 10th Anniversary of the Prince’s Campaign and many celebrations are planned, including a big pictorialhistory, in the manner of the Bayeux Tapestry, which certainly includes the Shetland Isles”
To this end my wife Janet and I made a dash to Keswick a few weeks ago to listen to Nicholas talk about his career and his new book “Nicholas Coleridge The Glossy Years” (we bought a copy and he kindly signed it for us). That wasn`t the only reason for our trip because it was also to present him with a brand new, hot off the looms, 100% genuine Real Shetland Wool throw which was made by my son Adam. I was supposed to present it to Nicholas at the Campaign for Wool meeting in London a couple of days before but I had to have some urgent eye surgery and was told by the doctor it couldn’t wait.
The Lerwick Collection - undyed Real Shetland Wool throws
It was a real treat to hear Nicholas talk about his career, his early days in the magazine business and his love for museums, especially the Victoria and Albert.
Nicholas genuinely loved the throw. In natural colours it is a limited-edition product which we had especially embroidered with the Campaign for Wool Green Sheep logo (which compliments the 3 Sheep logo on the Real Shetland Wool label of course!). The throw is available for sale through www.adamcurtisonline.co.uk and every sale will help Real Shetland Wool producers, UK processors, spinners and weavers. There are many more stories and one day I hope to be able to tell them to you.
With special thanks to Adam Curtis, without whom these very special products would never be made. He has invested tens of thousands of pounds into product development which has helped to show the rich diversity of Real Shetland Wool around the world. Think back 10 years and Shetland wool producers will see that they now have a much more secure and viable market for their wool despite the problems with wool prices on the mainland.
Martin Curtis
Council Member Campaign for Wool