‘People would rather buy 20 synthetic jumpers than a woollen one that would last them a lifetime’: The British wool trade today

To be a sheep, in the middle ages, was akin to having a coat made out of gold. Such was the value of the wool industry. British Wool (also known as The British Wool Marketing Board) celebrates its 75th anniversary this month. In that time, British sheep have produced the equivalent of 13 billion pairs of socks — enough to give each person in the UK 187 pairs. The farmers’ organisation represents around 30,000 registered wool producers across the UK, so, to mark the occasion, Country Life is taking a look back across the history of the trade that once dominated this country’s economy.

The president of the re-formed Cotswold Sheep Society, Mr W Garne, looking at some of his flock of Cotswold sheep in the shearing pens. (Image credit: Maeers/Stringer/Fox Photos//Getty Images)

One sheep's f