The Wool That Survived the Atlantic

The sheep on Harris have a harder life than most. The island's western edge faces the full weight of the North Atlantic without shelter. The grass is thin and salt-bitten. The winters are long, dark, and wet. The sheep have adapted over centuries: their fleece is dense, waxy, and grows in two distinct layers — an outer layer of long kemps that shed water, an inner layer of fine fibres that trap heat.