CLOSEKNIT
CLOSEKNIT
COMMUNITY
Knitting has long been a
tradition in the Yorkshire
Dales and a thriving cottage
industry based on
Wensleydale Longwool
sheep provides work for 30
local hand-knitters, as
Wendy Owen discovered
when she spoke to the
owners of the Wensleydale
Longwool Sheep Shop
THE Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Shop is a mecca for knitters and hand-spinners.
The shop, at Cross Lanes Farm, Garriston, North Yorks, is stocked with fleeces and silky Wensleydale wool, patterns, wooden knitting needles, hand-knitted garments, fleeces, tops, scarves, rugs, cards, in fact anything to do with Wensleydale sheep.
Ann Bolam and Ruth Tombleson (pictured left) have run the shop for two years. They were employed by the previous owner, Ann Hodgson, and rather than lose their jobs, they took over the business when she retired, moving it to Mrs Bolams 105ha (260-acre) mixed farm which she runs with her husband David.
With grant aid of about £12,000 they converted a building next to the farmhouse to create the shop.
A mail order service also operates and one of the finest achievements to date has been to discover a market for Wensleydale wool in Australia. Another big customer is a distributor in the USA, where knitting is still very popular with all ages.
"Wensleydale wool is soft and silky unlike other wools, which can be rather coarse. The fleece grows up to 12in in