For five generations, Not including my two young daughters shown in the picture, our family farm has been passed down through the years. Each generation has worked the same land, faced different challenges, and adapted to changing times.

When my grandad took over the farm, after buying it from the landowner who had previously let it to his father and generations before, life was very different.

Back then, farming didn’t have the luxuries of modern machinery. Everything was harder, more manual but he wasn’t alone. Luckily for him, he had seven children to lend a hand and pull their weight.

The farm itself was 52 acres, supporting my grandad, my nan, and all seven children. It was a full life, but it worked. And once a year, when shearing season came around, that’s when the real money came in.

He didn’t just rely on his own land either. Like many farmers at the time, he had grazing rights on common ground, where he kept a number of sheep. In July, during shearing, he would shear roughly 300 sheep. The wool alone would often bring in enough money to buy a good second hand tractor or new equipment to keep up with the times.

Back then, wool was worth around £14 per kilo, a huge amount compared to today.

As time went on, my dad began to take on more responsibility. But farming was changing. The price of meat and wool steadily dropped, and like many farmers, he had to find other ways to bring in income. A farm that once supported nine people, covered all the bills, and even allowed for the occasional holiday to the seaside, was no longer enough.

By the 1980s, wool prices had dropped to around £1.15 per kilo. And when you consider that a sheep only produces around 2–3 kilos of wool per fleece, and sheep haven’t exactly grown any bigger. You start to see the problem.

My grandad and dad both worked incredibly hard to keep the farm going. Sadly, in the late 1990s, my grandad suffered a heart attack, and my dad fully took over. He went on to have seven children of his own, but by then, there was no way the same 52 acres could support a family like it once had. It just wasn’t possible anymore.

Wool prices eventually dropped as low as 13p–17p per kilo. Times had well and truly changed.

If I’m honest, I think my dad kept the farm going as much for tradition as anything else. Because in today’s world, trying to make a 52 acre farm truly thrive is an uphill battle.

In early 2022, I took on part of the farm myself, with my own home reared Badger Face sheep, a hardy Welsh breed that will keep going no matter what. But even with a strong breed and a good work ethic, I’ve found it difficult to make ends meet. What was once a full time living for my grandad has, for me, become more of a passion than a livelihood.

Realising this early on, I decided to take a risk. I set up a small sheep’s wool insulation mill, producing loose fill wool insulation.

My inspiration comes from my grandad, the same man who built a life, raised a family, and paid off the farm using the value of wool from this very land.

I understand that times have changed. Agriculture has been pushed aside in many ways, replaced by synthetic materials that are cheaper and easier to produce. But I believe there’s still real value in tradition, in natural materials, and in doing things properly.

Since starting Prowool Insulation in 2025, I’ve had a huge amount of interest and support from people around me. Many say this is the way forward and that things will come full circle again if we make the change ourselves.

I like to think I’m level headed, but I also believe the world can’t carry on the way it is. Using natural, sustainable materials in our everyday lives isn’t just an option, it’s something we should be moving towards. Sheep’s wool is too valuable to waste, and it shouldn’t be replaced so easily.

Now, with two children of my own, I think even more about the future. The world they grow up in will be shaped by the choices we make today and I want to be part of building something better, something more sustainable, and something that lasts.