When we turned off the main highway onto the narrower country road toward Heatherlea Croft we wondered if we were in the right place. Driving further and further down the twisted lane, we met few cars (thank goodness — that “road” seemed barely sufficient for our small Toyota rental), and held our breath around each turn. We passed a few houses along the way, stopping to see if we were headed in the right direction, and were told to keep going. The “Black Cheviot people” are well known to their neighbors. And then, just around the next corner, there we were. A very rural and picturesque location in the Highlands. Sabrina and George Ross were sitting in the field near the road, surrounded by their gorgeous sheep.
This ewe was quick to let me know that I shouldn’t come any closer to her lambs, while at the same time seemed quite happy to let me admire her beauties. I took it as a great sign that they stopped to pose for me and didn’t immediately run away.
These lambs are two of dozens born at Heatherlea this year..both black and white cheviot. It’s not that the Black Cheviot are rare, but nowhere else I know of features them and their wool like this croft. Sabrina’s wool and yarn can be found on the Heatherlea Black Cheviot website, with both machine and handspun skeins of natural black and white yarn, and a number of dyed skeins from the white.
I’ve sort of jumped to the middle of the story, so let me back up a bit to talk about how these two remarkable people have built, and continue to develop a robust crofting business and life.
George Ross is the 5th generation of crofters at Heatherlea. Working with his father, and now with his wife Sabrina, he has developed and improved the croft primarily by reclaiming land from cross-leaved heath (a low-growing perennial heather). George was formerly a biodiversity officer for east Sutherland, where he resides, and is also a contract sheep shearer. The croft, in addition to being a successful farming enterprise, also is an important wildlife area monitored by the British Trust for Ornithology. It is not surprising then, that he views the decline of curlews, lapwings and snipe as a sad commentary on the natural health of the region. He has chosen to ignore the push for crofters to switch their lands to forestry for quicker short-term profit, securing instead the future of their flocks and rare waders.
Sabrina, originally from Austria, knew as a young child that she wanted to work as a farm vet. Her heart is with with the large animals; in particular, sheep. She did her Doctorate in New Zealand, which had a sheep specialty, specifically to deepen her ovine knowledge. Her work in Scotland split her time between veterinary medicine and the croft until she had to make a decision about which endeavor would take precedence. It was an agonizing decision — she had so much love for both, but in the end, the croft and her black sheep won the day.
George mentioned that there is a Scottish superstition that having black sheep in the flock brings good luck, but he and Sabrina have increased that luck substantially by developing a separate flock of the black beauties. It began with one tup (male), and when his lambs were born, they were absolutely captivated, and never turned back.
They have five lambs requiring bottle feeding this year, and those lambs clearly know that Sabrina is “mom.” The moment they saw her, they were literally bouncing up and down to capture her attention and insist that they might starve to death in the next 10 minutes.
Sabrina with the matriarch of the flock, “Black Granny,” right before shearing this year. Her fleece has begun to grey with age (she is now 11). Sabrina is wearing a garment hand-spun and knitted from Black Granny’s 2021 fleece.
The flocks at Heatherlea net about 2,000 kg of fleece each year from the adult sheep. Some of the white, and all of the black are retained for their wool business, and about 1 tonne was sought by a commercial mill in Italy this year. Although large flocks of Black Cheviot are still rare, it is not classed as a rare breed, and therefore is often overlooked. The amazing helical crimp and long, bouncy staple from the Heatherlea Black Cheviot fleeces are starting to make a name for itself and is highly sought after by hand spinners. I brought back roving both of the black and white, and look forward to seeing what kind of yarn begs to be spun. I also have a skein of commercially spun, lace-weight white that is incredibly soft and will not remain on the “to do” list much longer.
Even with the crushing workload of the croft, Sabrina and George found the time to sit and talk with us about their life and their plans (did I mention that Sabrina also makes a wicked good chocolate cake?). It is an absolute delight to open up my email every week or so and see short message from them. They are on a growing list of people I would love to see again and again. My mission in life continues to be a cheerleader for special sheep…so to George, Sabrina, Black Granny and all of the other lovely sheepies, Cheers and warm wishes.
On the needles/from the wheel…..
It is the end of the Tour de Fleece, and I’m truly pleased with my accomplishments.
In addition to the 3-braid challenge, I added about 4 oz of American Herdwick to my list. I’m down to the last ounce or so, and am expecting to finish by the end of the day. I was a little surprised at the color of the singles. In the roving it looks like a white and grey mix, but in the singles it’s more brown and white. The roving is from Grass Hill Farm in Connecticut, so I’m looking forward to visiting Judith’s sheep in August to see where these colors are coming from.
I have two more 4-oz lots of Herdwick; one like this, but not dehaired, and a charcoal roving. Fingers crossed, I’ve spun this finely enough to make a 3-ply sock yarn. It may be slightly rustic for socks, but I’m willing to give it a try.
Here is the second iteration of the boot topper inspired by the Swedish glove and Sami braids. I’m knitting the second one now to edit and finalize the pattern, so as soon as that is done (and the fringes are trimmed a bit), I’ll post it as a free pattern. I finished the braid with a decorative snap, but that may need to be replaced since the snap shank is very short and I’m concerned that it might fall off with real world use. TBD.
Meanwhile……
Lyla has a very specific attitude about fleece…it is meant to be ripped apart and spread across the floor. Apparently, though, with Gotland lamb she has developed a new opinion.
I travelled to Britain in the 80’s. We flew to London, spent time there, then took the train to Edinborough and enjoyed the Fringe Festival. Next we rented a car and I drove back to London taking a circuitous route. I clearly remember those roads being not much wider than a path and high hedges flanking them. No place to move over for oncoming traffic. Definitely a heart-in-mouth experience that I’ll never forget. Have to mention the beauty that we saw which made it all worth it.