Verified Regenerative Fibres from the Source of the Resource
Spinning a yarn - Discover the story of wool in Somerset through an exhibition and art installation
WOOL SCHOOL - 7th - 10th February 2025
Fibre Experience @ Fernhill Farm
Spring 2025 Farm Open Day - to identify, grow, harvest, process and utilise natural, native, regenerative, real, organic fibres, food and fuel
Blade Shearing Tournament - Spring 2024
Our Blade Shearing Tournament will enable you to compete with many of the top blade shearers in the Northern Hemisphere as they continue their master craft in the sheep shearing shed from 10am - 5pm Sunday 17th March
Sodbury Yarn Over 2025
Wonderwool Wales is the premier Wool & Natural Fibre Festival in Wales and is held annually on the last weekend in April at the Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells, Powys.
First held in 2006 to promote the market for Welsh wool and add value to product for small wool & fibre producers in Wales, the festival celebrates the green credentials of Welsh wool and its versatility as a material for creative crafts, designer clothes, home furnishings and more. Wonderwool Wales has grown year on year. It covers everything from the start to the end of the creative process – from exhibits of sheep, through raw and hand dyed fibres, yarn for knitting & crochet, embellishments, equipment, dyes and books to superb examples of finished textile art, craft, clothing and home furnishings.
Landalive - time to rethink food
The Fair will be held over the weekend of 16-17 November 2024
Gifts & Decorations, Candles, Fashion accessories, Art Vintage Housewares, Cards, Jewellery, £3 ENTRY FEE CHARITY RAFFLE Street Food, Bar, Festive entertainment and more
Regenerative Eco Farming with Jen Hunter - Discover the story of Fernhill Farm - from dilapidated ancient farmstead to regenerative eco farm.
Jen Hunter is a first-generation farmer and a proud custodian of the land. Through a holistic practice she hopes to make a difference for the future of our struggling planet
Fernhill Farm’s animals are multi-purpose and produce meat, wool and leather, while increasing soil biodiversity and sequestering carbon. Their sheep also provide wool that is harvested annually by expert shearers and used to create a range of natural fibre textiles that are processed here within the UK.
WOOL SCHOOL - 18th - 21th October 2024
Floods, Farms and Food - How can we build resilience together?
Join us for an exciting event where a panel of four dynamic speakers will each have 10 minutes to share their compelling perspectives on today’s most pressing environmental challenges, including:
Adapting to and mitigating flood risks
Restoring and preserving biodiversity
Revitalising soil health through regenerative farming
Enhancing food security by relocalizing our food systems
After the presentations, dive into a spirited Q&A session, where your questions and ideas will fuel a lively and thought-provoking discussion.
If you’d like to attend please use the button below to inform us of your interest and we’ll be in touch.
Blade Shearing Tournament - Autumn 2024 - Our Blade Shearing Tournament will enable you to compete with many of the top blade shearers in the Northern Hemisphere as they continue their master craft in the sheep shearing shed from 10am - 5pm Sunday 22nd September, with prizes for the winners of the Novice, Intermediate and Open finalists.
Fibre Experience @ Fernhill Farm
Autumn 2024 Farm Open Day - to identify, grow, harvest, process and utilise natural, native, regenerative, real, organic fibres, food and fuel
Wonderwool Wales is the premier Wool & Natural Fibre Festival in Wales and is held annually on the last weekend in April at the Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells, Powys.
First held in 2006 to promote the market for Welsh wool and add value to product for small wool & fibre producers in Wales, the festival celebrates the green credentials of Welsh wool and its versatility as a material for creative crafts, designer clothes, home furnishings and more. Wonderwool Wales has grown year on year. It covers everything from the start to the end of the creative process – from exhibits of sheep, through raw and hand dyed fibres, yarn for knitting & crochet, embellishments, equipment, dyes and books to superb examples of finished textile art, craft, clothing and home furnishings.
The Sodbury Yarn Over - a new woolly event in the heart of Chipping Sodbury
Public times will be 10:30 - 5pm on Saturday and 10 - 4pm on Sunday.
The website and tickets are now available - www.thesodburyyarnover.co.uk
After harvesting our freshly BLADE shorn fleeces in March 2024, we will be delighted to offer you the opportunity to come to the Source of the Resource @ Fernhill Farm to browse our fleece and meat box collections on the 29th March from 10am - 4pmBlade Shearing Tournament - Spring 2024
Our Blade Shearing Tournament will enable you to compete with many of the top blade shearers in the Northern Hemisphere as they continue their master craft in the sheep shearing shed from 10am - 5pm Sunday 17th March
Blade Shearing Tournament - Autumn 2024
Our Blade Shearing Tournament will enable you to compete with many of the top blade shearers in the Northern Hemisphere as they continue their master craft in the sheep shearing shed from 10am - 5pm Sunday 22nd September
Fibre Experience @ Fernhill Farm
Spring 2024 Farm Open Day - to identify, grow, harvest, process and utilise natural, native, regenerative, real, organic fibres, food and fuel
A long-time ambition of ours, is the Mutton Club - an appreciation for all things Fernhill Farm, and a celebration of sheep and nomadic shepherding
We won’t make you eat mutton on every occasion and all dietary requests will be fully catered for, it’s just a simple evening of togetherness with a focus on true food, lovely conversations, some sort of entertainment in a warm safe space here on the Mendip Hills.
WOOL SCHOOL - 9th - 12th February 2024
WOOL SCHOOL II - 9th - 12th February 2024
The event will feature; Christmas Shopping, Kids Crafts, Local Bands, and Food and Drink. A new, local, Christmas event, held in the Pavilion at the Showground
Festive Markets
This year the Chew Magna Christmas Market is hosting their biggest Festive Markets to date!
So many amazing Stallholders they will have 3 venues filled with them, including Fernhill Fibre to be found upstairs in the old school toom
Come along and make sure you check them all out - Bring plenty of empty shopping bags, we promise you that you'll soon fill them up
#chewmagnachristmasfayre #festivemarkets #countdowntochristmas
The Fair will be held over the weekend of 18-19 November 2023
Progress your skills with a multitude of craft activities that include advanced spinning, art yarns, various weaving options, French knitting, 3D needle felting with wires etc
Tuition is provided by the expert team we lovingly invite here that includes Christine Rice and Lesley Hill and Brenda Hamblin. All are incredibly knowledgeable about all aspects of wool textile crafts and are here the entire time to assist, encourage and listen to everyone as you all progress through the wool school at your own pace - everyone is welcome at any stage of their understanding of working with a natural fibre
WOOL SCHOOL ii will run alongside our original wool school, in the saloon room with areas divided up to offer a communal learning experience whatever level everyone finds themselves at - this allows those new and familiar with our setting to join in and enjoy a weekend together
Session 1: Introduction to WOOL SCHOOL (Friday 13th from 2pm)
French Knit a chunky snood or cowl using Fernhill Farm style giant French Knitting Looms - this session is designed to enable a gentle welcome for participants to enjoy using various yarns, that include lopi, pencil rovings and is a great way to use up bits and bobs of home spun yarns, bringing colour to the classroom. This is an easy start whilst we chat about personal wool journeys, where we can prepare you all for the next few days ahead. These create your own personalised warm and cosy warm neck warmers, ideal for the Mendip Chilly winds here. Can also be booked as an individual workshop - please select Snood Workshop at checkout
Session 2 - Advanced Spinning - (Saturday 14th from 9.30am)
This is a follow-on session from WOOL SCHOOL for those wishing to explore a new range of spinning styles
Please do let us know what you wish to learn here and we can grow your own styles
This session can also be used as additional time for practice plying, skeining etc
Session 3 - Art Yarns (Saturday 14th from 2pm)
Please do let us know what you wish to learn here and we can grow your own styles
This session can also be used as additional time for practice plying, skeining etc
(Saturdays only is now fully booked, to allow those wanting to book the full wool school)
Session 4 Weaving (Sunday 15th from 9.30am) - Yarns can then be woven - tuition and commercial spun yarns provided as requested - details of Looms coming soon
Session 5 Weaving (Sunday 15th from 2pm) - as above
Session 6 (Monday 16th from 9.30am) - Needle felting 3D shapes with wires - optional 2D picture - as this is the final session, can also be used to finish up any spinning, plying, skeining etc. Can also be booked as an individual workshop - please select Needle Felt Wire Workshop at checkout
Start and End dates:
Friday 13th @ noon to Monday 16th @ noon
Day(s) of the week: Week days and Weekend options
Times: Arrival and departure days allow travel in daylight hours, starting / finishing at lunchtime
Full days are 9am - 4.00 pm with practice session in the evenings
Location: Fernhill Farm in the Saloon – ground floor heated workshop space with ample parking, kitchen-diner and lots of space for workshop activities
Price / day: £40pp/session - Includes room hire, hot drinks, together with wool ingredients, use of appropriate kit hire and tuition – please BYO lunch - please note some specialist materials may be extra should you wish to purchase these when here onsite
What to bring along etc: No previous skills required – welcome to bring own materials, wheels, spindles etc if you wish but not necessary – dress warm for a farm with sensible shoes - your own food provisions for each day
Maximum number we can accept / day: 9/day – spaces are limited and booked on a first come first served basis
How To Book WOOL SCHOOL II:
Available to book the 4 day package - see WOOL SCHOOL II option
Available to book Saturday 14th sessions 2 and 3 - see WSii Advanced spinning option
Available to book Sunday 15th - flexible sessions - see WSii - weaving option
Available to book Snood Workshop - Friday 13th @ 2pm session 1 - see Snood workshop option
Available to book Wet Felt Wire Workshop - Sunday 15th @ 2pm session 5 - see Wet Felt Wire option
We have cosy onsite accommodation here with various glamping options to choose from - accommodation can be pre-booked - please see www.fernhill-farm.co.uk for details
If you are willing to share - please select Bunk Bed option at £42/n at checkout
Some have requested to BYO campervan, so we have added this as an option - please select Van option at £20/n/van at checkout
TBC - Mutton Club - social Saturday Night dinners - please select these using this link thanks MUTTON CLUB
Extra materials can be purchased on site - have a look what we have here www.fernhillfibre.co.uk/shop
For more details please email jen@fernhill-farm.co.uk
Understand the basics with harvesting, selecting, prepping and washing raw sheep fleece ready for a multitude of craft activities that include spinning, weaving, knitting, wet felting, needle felting etc
Tuition is provided by the expert team we lovingly invite here known as Christine Rice and Lesley Hill. Both are incredibly knowledgeable about all aspects of wool textile crafts and are here the entire time to assist, encourage and listen to every one as you all progress through the wool school at your own pace - everyone is welcome at any stage of their understanding of working with a natural fibre
Session 1: Introduction to WOOL SCHOOL
Weaving a chunky tuffet seat pad using Fernhill Style Peg Looms - this session is designed to enable a gentle welcome to allow time for participants to see and feel fleece parts, whilst chatting about their own wool journey, ready for the next few days ahead. These create your own personalised warm and cosy seat pad ready for all your next sessions. Can also be booked as an individual workshop - please select Tuffet Workshop at checkout
Session 2 - topics covered include
What is kemp, microns and fibre diameter - effect on finished yarns
Native colours and markings from the Shetland and Coloured BFL and Romney Rams
Fibre length, fibre strength, fibre weaknesses - when selecting fleece
Sheep fleece parts and their subsequent qualities
Using seconds and waste wool
Session 3 - topics covered include:
Ways of washing wool, lanolin removal, lanolin rich fleece
Drying fleece
Picking, carding, making rolags using hand carders and carding machine
Spinning rolags, yarn onto bobbins using variety of spinning wheels
Plying into hanks, skeins and balls
Storage of yarns
Session 4 - Yarns can then be knitted or woven - tuition provided as requested - this session can also be used as additional time for spinning practice, plying, skeining etc
Session 5 - Felting - wet felting technique to make a bowl shape - this session can also be used as additional spinning practice, plying, skeining etc. Can also be booked as an individual workshop - please select Wet Felt Workshop at checkout
Session 6 - Needle felting 3D shapes - optional 2D pictures - as this is the final session, can also be used to finish up any spinning, plying, skeining etc. Can also be booked as an individual workshop - please select Needle Felt Workshop at checkout
Start and End dates:
Friday 13th @ noon to Monday 16th @ noon
Day(s) of the week: Week days and Weekend options
Times: Arrival and departure days allow travel in daylight hours, starting / finishing at lunchtime
Full days are 9am - 4.00 pm with practice session in the evenings
Location: Fernhill Farm in the Saloon – ground floor heated workshop space with ample parking, kitchen-diner and lots of space for workshop activities
Price / day: £40pp/session - Includes room hire, hot drinks, together with wool ingredients, use of appropriate kit hire and tuition – please BYO lunch - please note some specialist materials may be extra should you wish to purchase these when here onsite
What to bring along etc: No previous skills required – welcome to bring own materials, wheels, spindles etc if you wish but not necessary – dress warm for a farm with sensible shoes - your own food provisions for each day
Maximum number we can accept / day: 6-9/day – spaces are limited and booked on a first come first served basis
How To Book:
Available to book the 4 day package - see 4 day options - Block 1 or Block 2
Available to book 1/2 day to suit your own schedule - see 1/2 day option
Available to book 1 day or multiples of 1 one to suit your own schedule - see 1 day option
Available to book Needle Felt Workshop - am or pm session Saturday 12th - see Felt workshop option
Available to book Tuffet Workshop - am or pm session - see Tuffet workshop option
Full list of workshops with dates and times - see timetable - contact us with your preferences thanks
Accommodation can be also be pre-booked - please see www.fernhill-farm.co.uk for details of farm accommodation options
(please note - dates showing as booked online as all beds are now reserved for the wool school participants - even though we shall only have 10 spread out across the 30 bed options)
We have cosy accommodation here with lots of beds to choose from - these are mostly double bunk beds in shared rooms / glamping arcs
It’s highly likely you shall have your own space and toilet and shower in a big barn on a self catering basis with plenty of social spaces for everyone - please select Bunk Bed option at £42/n at checkout
Also as some have requested to BYO camper van, we have added this as an option too - please select Van option at £20/n/van at checkout
Extra materials can be purchased on site - have a look what we have here www.fernhillfibre.co.uk/shop
For more details please email jen@fernhill-farm.co.uk
Sustainable Fashion Week Frome: Screening of Dylan Howitt’s documentary The Nettle Dress with Q&A
Allan Brown makes a dress by hand just from the fibre of foraged stinging nettles over 7 years. A labour of love in the truest sense. The Nettle Dress is a modern-day fairytale and hymn to the healing power of nature and slow craft. It’s one story representing a huge groundswell of people rediscovering the joys of making. Actor Mark Rylance called the film “Exquisite and inspiring, beautiful and helpful for anyone suffering loss or grief.”
https://www.nettledress.org/
Please find yourself invited to join us at Fernhill Farm to watch the sheep being shorn in our lively shearing shed.
World Class Blade shearers will be taking part in this bi-annual tournament to compete with plenty of the best this industry has to offer and help raise the profile of the Benefits of Blade Shearing here in the UK.
Buy fleece fresh off the boards in the shearing shed, as well as finished products made from our wool in our pop-up Sheep Shop - beautiful scarves, blankets, yarn, clothing, bespoke sheepskins and more in a range of natural and dyed colours.
Throughout the day wool spinning and peg loom weaving workshops will be available from the Fernhill Fibre team, and we welcome all those who use natural resources to promote and create rural activities.
NEW - we are also welcoming visitors to create a spinning wheel sale / exchange area - we will take no commission or lead on this, its simply a way to share resources amongst the crowd as ancient tools should be celebrated as we recognise the importance of hand tools
The Fernhill Farm team will be here serving up delicious tasty meals, with an array of local ciders and ales and The Coffee.Box will park up and serve amazing cakes alongside their fantastic hot beverages.
Yeo Valley Ice-creams and Home Wood Sheep Cheeses complete the local feasts on offer - all within a few miles from our farm.
Fernhill Farm meat boxes will be available from the freezers on the day - please bring your own chiller box and stock up for the Autumn feast season - Produce Shop details HERE
Fred Bonestroo will be bringing his Organic Veg truck again - Fred is a Blade Shearer who is Farmer Freds Close Farm Tetbury and grows a truly excellent range of seasonal vegetables in organic ways
Sheep Dog* demonstrations will happen just outside the shearing shed - Mike Dowden is chairman of the Come Bye and Away Sheepdog Training and Trailing group near Glastonbury and will be showing training ideas with all levels of working sheep dogs, from pups to old collies (*Please leave your dogs at home thanks)
Delighted to welcome wood carving workshops again with Tim Graham - Tim is a green woodworker and carver based in Frome. Using a variety of tools he creates spoons, cups and bowls from trees that have been recently felled. His work reflects the timber from which it has been carved utilising natural curves and bends in the wood to add strength to the finished products.
Tim will be running 30 minute carving workshops at 11am, 1pm and 3pm where participants can carve their own knitting needles using wood collected from Fernhill Farm. Please sign up at his stall on the day. www.timclivegraham.bigcartel.com @timclivegraham
Land Logic Timber will be here with all things Timbers and sharp and dangerous tools again - thanks to Rupert we have built our sheds, glamping arcs and clad our Horseshoe Barns using our home grown and local timber supplies
10.30am - Arran Redman from ifA - Talking Soil - Arran is a Natural Resources Advisor working with i4Agri and is leading the project Exploring Livestock Emissions (ELE) Action Group Fernhill farm is participating in - soils samples have been taken and the details showcased here at our Farm Open Day - visiting pre-dug soil pits to show the effect holistic grazing has on soil systems, plant and root dynamics with nutrient exchange.
11.30am - Nature Recovery with the local Ranger Nathan Orr from the Mendip Hills AONB - see details below at 4pm
12.30 - regenerative sessions with Christopher and Sheila Cooke from 3LM - a 2-part informative introduction to studying Regenerative Farming principles -
12.30 - Part 1 is a 45 minute overview of Fernhill Farms EOV results, indoors looking at a slideshow with Jen interpreting field analysis data with practical explanations over the last 4 years on the Land to Market Platform with Savory Institute
1.15 - Part 2 is the 3LM Land Discovery Tour walking across the land looking at key indicator species etc - all outdoors for approximately 45 minutes
2.00pm - WET Systems with Jay Abrahams from Biologic Design Ltd - Wastewater is purified naturally at Fernhill Farm by a Wetland Ecosystem Treatment or WET System, based on permaculture design principles. Jay will shows his design slides in our Saloon classroom, followed by a tour of the WET system www.biologicdesign.co.uk
4.00pm - Nature Recovery with the local Ranger Nathan Orr from the Mendip Hills AONB
This information is approximate, times may vary on the day so please do check in again when your here for the latest updates and follow our event page from September 7th
Slideshows will be within the Saloon Classroom, next to farm café and toilets - meeting point is just outside the Saloon - within the Hay Shed, opposed to the Sheep Shearing Shed
Free entry to all – it's a perfect family day out (NO DOGS) and please do get in contact if you wish to get involved wool@fernhill-farm.co.uk
All proceeds are donated as prize money for talented shearers
See official event page on Facebook here for latest information: Blade Tournament Autumn Equinox 2023
A rare opportunity to browse our freshly harvested fleeces from the source of the resource
Learn to see the world the way a cow does, so you can be safe and stress-free in handling them. Educator Miriam Parker was trained by the originators, Bud Williams and Temple Grandin, and was awarded an MBE for services in farming in 2006. The course involves classroom sessions, as well as outdoor exercises with cattle. We limit the course to 12 participants so everyone gets a turn
Wonderwool Wales is the premier Wool & Natural Fibre Festival in Wales and is held annually on the last weekend in April at the Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells, Powys.
First held in 2006 to promote the market for Welsh wool and add value to product for small wool & fibre producers in Wales, the festival celebrates the green credentials of Welsh wool and its versatility as a material for creative crafts, designer clothes, home furnishings and more. Wonderwool Wales has grown year on year. It covers everything from the start to the end of the creative process – from exhibits of sheep, through raw and hand dyed fibres, yarn for knitting & crochet, embellishments, equipment, dyes and books to superb examples of finished textile art, craft, clothing and home furnishings.
Fibre Quest with Blade Shearing and Fleece Sale – Spring 2023
Gifts & Decorations, Candles, Fashion accessories, Art Vintage Housewares, Cards, Jewellery, £3 ENTRY FEE CHARITY RAFFLE Street Food, Bar, Festive entertainment and more
We hear that people don’t want to change, but subsidies and input costs are changing rapidly, so we need to become flexible and proactive managers of land, and we need to feel this is a good thing to do.
Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV) is a programme of change.
We’ve got to change to have a better life and make more money.
Put an ecological baseline in so you can understand what you’ve got. Get a better understanding of your soil and how it impacts your grass.
EOV helps you know how to implement little changes one step at a time – finding a pathway that is easy to approach for a lot of farmers so they can see benefits straight away – Andy Wear
