Introduction wool | oking brand yarn

Astronauts wear wool for comfort in the confines of their spacecraft. Wool protects mountain climbers and polar scientists, the sailors who navigate single-handed the oceans of the world and men 'who strike oil in Alaska. It is a fibre fit for heroes-and for more ordinary folk. As modern as moonflight, and as ancient as the hills.

The story of wool began long ago, before recorded history when primitive man first clothed himself in the woolly skins, of the wild sheep he killed for food. He had discovered a durable fabric which gave him what nothing else could give: protection alike from heat and cold, from wind and rain. A versatile fabric which kept him cool in the heat of the day and warm in the cold of the night, which could absorb moisture without feeling wet.

Man can never match it. No other material, natural or man-made, has all its qualities. But man can refine and improve wool. He has done so by selective breeding of sheep and by incorporating in wool fabrics such qualities as shrink resistance, durable creasing and pleating, mothproofing, shower-proofing and stain-proofing.

Science and technology have kept wool in the forefront of fabrics, adapting to modern needs without impairing its virtues. Wool is part of Britain's history and heritage, more so than any other commodity ever produced in these islands. It was woven into cloth here in the Bronze Age which began about 1900 BC. But in historical terms this is comparatively recent. Elsewhere in the world, primitive man had domesticated the sheep in 10 000 BC.