Wonderwool show – report

Apr 29 2008 by Steve Dube, Western Mail

A NEW use for wool that could energise the stagnant market for fleeces is being blocked by red tape.

T Mawr Thermafleece, the first Welsh sheep wool insulation, was launched at the Wonder-wool Wales event at the Royal Welsh Showground at the weekend.

But it faces a disadvantage compared with its fibreglass competitor because it does not qualify for an installation grant.

The manufacturers say it is better, lasts longer and is environmentally friendly rather than damaging and dangerous to use.

But no grant is available because only one British company produces the material – in competition with rivals in New Zealand and Germany.

“We have lobbied the government on this again and again and the reply we get is that they can’t be seen to be support-ing an individual company,” said Christine Armstrong, managing director of the manu-facturers Second Nature UK Ltd.

“We spent seven years developing Thermafleece and it was a matter of principle for us.

“We want to support the British network and have something that is high quality and sustainable.”

The new Welsh Thermafleece is available from the Brecon-based company T Mawr, which manufactures and supplies traditional and ecological building materials.

It costs £10 a square metre and is guaranteed to be made from at least 75% Welsh wool, which is segregated from other fleeces in the manufacturing process in Cumbria.

Second Nature Thermafleece has been used in the new extension at Brecon Road Infants School in Merthyr Tydfil after being recommended by architect Robert Spencer of Atkins in Cardiff.

“We wanted to use a technically excellent product with good insulation values which was locally sourced and had desirable environmental credentials,” he said.

“We were also required to consider health and safety when specifying materials and components on the nursery school and the benefits of natural wool fibre over and above other products was certainly a prime factor.”

Susie and James Suter of the Gliffaes Hotel, Crickhowell, and Howies Organic Clothing Company also chose it because of its better, and longer-lasting efficiency.

The new Welsh wool insulation was one of a diverse range of events and activities at the two-day Wonderwool, which was opened by celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson.

Wonderwool, with more than 150 colourful stalls, was staged alongside Mid Wales Mouthful, a new foodie event that included 70 exhibitors selling quality local produce from Powys and the borders.

There was a distinctly green feel to the event, with the organisers Glasu, the Powys Leader+ programme, encouraging stallholders to make the event plastic bag-free, and refuse stations stewarded by volunteers helping visitors to sort their rubbish into the right recycle bin.

“The whole purpose of the two-in-one show is to promote natural fibres and regional produce, which in itself is encouraging an environmentally friendly approach and a reduction in food miles,” said Glasu spokeswoman Lee Price. “But we are also making real efforts to ensure the event is as green as possible in other ways.”

Some of the 200 stallholders made a point of showcasing a huge variety of uses for recycled fabrics. They included Raggedy and Wench from Aberystwyth, with an imaginative and eye-catching range of hand-made recycled clothing, blending vintage bohemian with burlesque.

Sheepfold launched two new designs of their “bag for life”, ready to knit and felt with wool from Back Leicester Longwool sheep grazing in Wales.

And fans of Big Knitting had a treat at Ingrid Wagner’s stall, which was guaranteed to raise a smile as well as a crowd.

Ingrid was unable to get her largest, world record-breaking, 3.5-metre and 8-cm diameter knitting needles to the showground.

But she had some amazing textiles on display and visitors could buy giant knitting needles if they were inspired enough to have a go themselves.

There were also spinners, weavers and dyers, and a range of natural fibre-producing animals, from alpacas and sheep to rabbits. And there was a Woolschool with workshops, talks and lectures.

Glasu described the event as “a celebration of the great diversity of all natural fibres” and the crowds on both days were proof of a growing public interest in the field.