A nice piece of publicity

Couple championing best of British with Mendham business, Woolplay

By Kevin Hurst 

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kevin.hurst@iliffepublishing.co.uk

Published: 08:49, 18 May 2025

A couple, who swapped city careers to reconnect with nature, are championing the best of British with their successful wool business.

Claire Powell and Andy Saunders set up Woolplay in Mendham last year after moving to their Suffolk smallholding from Essex in 2016.

Having been offered a small flock of six Leicester Longwools – one of the rarest breeds in the UK – in 2021, the couple’s flock has grown to 29.

Husband-and-wife team Claire Powell and Andy Saunders with some of the wool. Picture: Mark Bullimore

This has helped Woolplay – a textile studio and wool shop, stocking fibre and yarns from British wool – to go from strength to strength.

Ms Powell, who originally trained as a lawyer, said the business stemmed from simply having too much wool.

“I grew up in the Peak District and used to love spotting sheep when I was out and about,” she said.

One eye on the future: Claire and Andy bottle feed some lambs.

“So, when a friend told us about the flock, we jumped at the chance to take them on.

 “We soon had more than wool than we knew what to do with – and the business has grown from there.

“It is so far away from my previous career and Andy’s, as he worked in IT for investment banks, but we love it.

“It is hard work, but we are definitely much fitter than we were.”

Woolplay, which was set up by husband and wife couple Claire Powell and Andy Saunders last year.

The sheep are sheared once a year and, due to the length of the locks of wool, which can be up to nine or ten inches, very few mills in the UK can spin them, so the process to make the wool is a long one but worth it, according to Ms Powell.

“It is part of our heritage and part of our landscape,” she said. “We have a lot to be thankful for as British sheep and their wool are revered all over Europe in the Middle Ages.

“With the business, we really want to remind people that we have this amazing asset literally on our doorstep.

 “We have 64 breeds of sheep in the UK and, while not all of them produce nice wool, the ones that have finer fleeces produce a fabulous product.”

The studio is open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays and will be open during three weekends for Suffolk Open Studios.

For more information on the business, go online to woolplay.co.uk.