RSA web News and Comment
Andrew Tinnion
We learnt of the death on Friday 28th August 2009 of ANDREW TINNION. Please find attached a short tribute to him.
Click here to view the Book of Remembrances.
HRH supports woolly thinking
Challenge Chair Design Award
The RSA sets young designers a brief to design the 21st century’s most iconic Challenge Chair to go on public display during the first national ‘Campaign for Wool Week’, commencing Monday 11th October 2010 which is supported by HRH The Prince of Wales.
Help with an ample supply of materials as well a manufacture is offered at the discretion of the Judges. A £1000 prize goes to the winning entry together with considerable PR coverage.
To see and print off entry details please follow this link
What goes around comes around.
The Sheepskin Association is often asked why it has ‘Real’ in its title.
Visiting the magnificent Leathersellers’ Hall for a lunch recently as part of celebrations for the British School of Leather Technology 100 years old this year, provided a curious echo of the answer we too give to this frequently asked question.
The Real Sheepskin Association is only 20 years old but one of the main reasons the founding companies formed the Association was to defend ‘real’ sheepskin, using Trades Description legislation, from ‘wolf’ companies trying to pass off simulated fleece fabrics as the real thing.
Nothing against faux fur but no way is it comparable in quality, comfort or performance to products made from ‘real’ sheepskin.
Similarly at their formation round 1372, members of the ‘mistery’ or craft of
Leathersellers’ and Pursers complained to the mayor and aldermen about the
Dyers’ “deceit of the people” by dyeing sheep leather in order to pass it off
as the more durable and expensive roe deer leather.
By 1388 when Richard (Dick) Whittington was mayor, members applied for
regulations to prevent and punish dishonest practices. By 1444 the
Leathersellers were sufficiently organized and powerful to apply to Henry
VI for a charter of incorporation depicting both roe and ram as the
supporting “beasts” in their official crest – which explains another f.a.q.
- how a sheep and deer appear outside the official residence of the Leather
Livery!
Micro tanning sheepskin.
Micro Tanning on the
Isle of Skye
When wool prices are so low that the wool cheque from the Wool Board doesn’t even cover the costs of shearing the sheep, having the skins back to at least offset some the stock rearing costs, make good sense.
A number of farmers Breeders and smallholders are actively looking into the possibility of setting up a communal micro tannery covering the more remote regions far away from the 4 remaining sheepskin tanners.
There has been a noticeable increase in enquiries about the possibility of RSA assistance in this enterprise.
We believe around 10,000 skins per year are being contract dressed (tanned) and we estimate the potential mini-market could be as high as 1 million p.a.
The position to date is that the RSA offers some useful advice about the selection, preservation and logistics of getting skins tanned, see our ‘library’.
We have written a training workshop “How to make Best Use of Your Sheepskins” and are planning to install this online, for groups investigating how to process, make and market their skins.
We are consulting with the Sheepskin Tanning sector, Leather technology training institutions/consultants, EU, DEFRA and others on how we can best help.
To discuss further, in confidence, please contact Peter Robinson, Hon. Sec. Real Sheepskin Association info@realsheepskin.org.uk.