Best of Britannia, Farmiloe Building: these are a few of my favourite things

A few of my favourite things from the Best of Britannia event at the Farmiloe Building earlier in October: Doris & Co creamware - the cup has a very pleasing shape, slightly tapered towards the bottom, vintage inspired illustrations and well-thought out words and phrases. I like the PATIENCE mug - I need this.

Satchelle - up against the mighty Zatchels and Cambridge Satchel Company - these satchels by Satchelle are made from nice quality leather and available in a range of colours - particularly liked the cherry pink colour (bottom right in the pic)

Blodwen - modern and traditional Welsh-made products: wool blankets, cushions, wooden love spoons...

Pashley cycles

slippers, lanolin handcream and soap, and woollen blankets from Romney Marsh Wools - looking forward to seeing them next at Country Living Fair and Spirit of Christmas

Romney Marsh Wools at Spirit of Summer Fair 2012

A pile of Romney Marsh Wools blankets at Spirit of Summer fair

Kristina will be taking her Romney Marsh Wools next to Chichester Cathedral Festival of Flowers 7th to 9th June, and Wealden Times Midsummer Fair 14th to 16th June

a visit to Romney Marsh Wools, Kent

The pic above shows the family shepherd's crook which inspired the logo design.

The M25 in torrential rain and few wrong directions from satnav could not hold me back from taking up Romney Marsh Wools' invitation to visit them yesterday at Rushfield farm (I recently blogged about Romney Marsh Wools here).
I was welcomed with a cup of tea and a visit to the Romney Marsh sheep, and also the Merino sheep, their fleece vaguely reminiscent of a poodle perm, but they were unsportingly hiding behind a trough so I couldn't take a picture.

a handsome Romney ewe

newest of new baby lambs

The family at Rushfield have farmed this land for 6 generations - their farm is mainly arable, but they have a sizeable number of sheep too who graze the land in the system of crop rotation. Aside from the 60 Merinos, the rest of the 1000 sheep at the farm are Romneys, a hardy breed which is well suited to this part of the Kent marshes. Romneys produce good meat (salt marsh lamb, anyone?), and have a soft fleece due to the fine wool fibres - the width of the wool fibres is 32 microns, which compares to human hair which is 100 microns. Merinos are even softer, their wool fibres have a width of 18 microns. Due to their softness, the fleece from Romneys and Merinos can be used to make lovely cosy blankets and clothes.

The sheep at Rushfield produce about 5 to 6 tonnes of wool per year, the majority of which is bought by the Wool Marketing Board to be used in the carpet industry. The rest of the wool is now used in the farm's Romney Marsh Wool business - the fleeces are taken to Wales where they are washed, carded, spun and woven into blankets and rugs and fabric for cushions.

  A massive cube of wool

 wool - before (left) and after (right) the process of carding. I am assuming this is rather like brushing hair, only somewhat harder work, given that a fleece weighs between 3 and 4 kilos.

Some Romney Marsh Wool blankets - the darker wool is from a different sheep, which from one year to the next can vary in depth of colour

 different shades of brown and white striped blankets

Part of the skincare range which is made from lanolin, extracted from the wool

 slippers - with these Spring storms we have been having, there is nothing I would like more than a pair of these after getting drenched.

And finally here is the lovely (and, may I add, glamorous) Kristina - the driving force behind Romney Marsh Wool, her enthusiasm and energy for this new part of the family farm business is inspiring.

Thank you Kristina and family for a great afternoon.

Romney Marsh Wools: Top Pick at Country Living Fair and Selvedge Fair - Spring 2012

This hand and body lotion from Romney Marsh Wools is the best that I have found. Ever. It contains lanolin, also known as wool fat which helps the sheep's fleece to shed water, which is soothing, moisturising and - very important for me - not greasy. It just sinks into the skin, and it smells absolutely delicious too.

I first came across this fantastic lotion at the Selvedge Fair last year when Katrina from Romney Marsh Wools persuaded me to try it. I visited their stand again at the Country Living Spring Fair last weekend where I stocked up on more of their lotion (now used by all the family as it is good for eczema which the kids are prone to) - and I was so pleased to see them at the Selvedge Spring Fair 2012 yesterday when I found out a bit more about Romney Marsh Wools.

Located near Aldington on the Romney Marsh in Kent, the family run farm has been farming Romney Sheep for six generations - they currently have 1000 ewes...think of all those lambs at Easter! Traditionally, Romney sheep have been bred for their meat and their wool - the fleece is a creamy colour and used in knitwear, yarn and cloth. Romney Marsh Wools take their fleeces to traditional weavers who hand process, spin and weave the yarn into rugs and throw - see pics below.

Some more of their skincare products: wool fat soaps, shampoo, hand wash using lanolin - preservative free and not tested on animals (baby blankets in foreground)

Scarves and throws made from Merino and Romney wool below

Natural sheep skin bootees for babies 

cushions and throws

Beeswax candles (beeswax from a local beekeeper) hand rolled by Katrina and her mum

Mrs Osborn goes on a spree: Selvedge Autumn Fair: winter woolies from Gabrielle Vary, Esk Valley, Romney Marsh Wools

The Autumn Selvedge Fair was a delight, in the lovely St Augustine Church Hall just off the Archway Road, N6

Gabrielle Vary, based near to Brighton, makes shawls, scarves and cushions - all in a deliciously edible palette of colours perfect for Autumn. Everything is designed and made by Gabrielle herself.

I succumbed to temptation and bought the quince-y coloured shawl below - I love the fact that Gabrielle made the very shawl, which I am wearing right now, herself.

Esk Valley knitwear from Scotland

One cannot have enough stripy gloves

Romney Marsh Wools, Kent

Throws, rugs and cushions in natural shades are made in a distinctive textured twill weave from Romney sheep fleeces by this family owned business - the family has been keeping Romney sheep for six generations

Romney Marsh Wools also produce a skincare range - 

I tried a bit of the lanolin hand and body lotion with some trepidation as I don't like greasy lotions that linger on the surface of my skin. But this was lovely and was absorbed quickly (probably because I have dry lizard skin), smells good too.