Reviving Yorkshire’s Textile Heritage Through North York Moors Tweed
Across the North York Moors, sheep have shaped both the land and the livelihoods of the people who farm it. A new grassroots project led by local farmer Emma Boocock is seeking to bring that relationship to life in an exciting new way.
At the end of November, North York Moors Tweed was officially launched. A crowdfunded venture determined to restore pride and purpose to locally grown wool. Emma, whose family has farmed at Freebrough Farm for generations, has built the project around a simple idea: wool should be valued, farmers should be paid fairly, and the fabric created from local wool deserves to carry the character of the place it comes from.
The recent success of her Kickstarter campaign will fund the first production run of tweeds and throws; all sourced from flocks across the North York Moors National Park and woven by local mills. The designs are inspired by the landscape itself, heather and bracken, moorland stone and winter skies, with three collections planned for the first release: Freebrough, Danby, and Rosedale.
The project has been supported in its early development through two North York Moors National Park Authority funding streams: Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) and the Visitor experience grant. These helped Emma shape the brand, strengthen its storytelling, and build a platform capable of sharing the journey of local wool from farm to finished cloth.
As Georgia Tiffany, the National Park’s Community Engagement Officer for Tourism, explains:
“The North York Moors National Park Authority supported North York Moors Tweed through a Visitor Experience grant that helped the business establish its brand, develop strong storytelling, and create a professional online presence. The funding enabled the project to share the journey of local wool, celebrate the area’s farming heritage, and launch high-quality, place-inspired tweed products.”
At its heart, the project is about more than cloth. Every metre of tweed carries a story of the people and landscape that has shaped Yorkshire’s textile heritage for centuries. North York Moors Tweed is bringing that story back into focus and giving wool the worth it has long deserved.