The Natural Fibre Company website includes plenty of information about adding value to wool, but we are often asked where people can learn more about the textile industry, spinning and the history of both.

The Meet the animals page includes some brief comments on the breeds of sheep whose fleece we use most. We have included a number of links in four different categories which may also help: services, our customers and partners, informaton and trade associations.

We recommend visiting the web sites of the British Wool Marketing Board, Wikipedia, which has plenty of pages devoted to wool, natural fibre and textiles, the National Sheep Association, which will give you a good overview of different sheep breeds, and the Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers who sometimes visit schools and show children how to spin and weave.

Look at YouTube. This link is about how to knit, but you can also be shown how to crochet and new items are being added daily.

Museums

These are scattered round the country, but they are obviously in places where the wool industry used to be significant, but has now declined. We recommend visting the Bradford Industrial Museum, but a lot can be found out from the World Wide Web. Spartacus, for example, has some excellent material and can help with research into child labour or, more broadly, the Industrial Revolution.

The following may also prove useful in learning more about the textile industry: Bath Fashion Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, which has a wonderful collection of textiles and fashion, the Fashion and Textile Museum also in London (this was inspired by the 1960s fashion icon Zandra Rhodes) and the Helmshore Textile Museum which as it is in Lancashire features cotton rather than wool.