Cathal O'Shannon reports from Unst, northernmost of the inhabited British Isles, where he has discovered a material more valuable than gold or platinum the island's intricate gossamer shawls.

Shetland shawls are made from the gossamer wool that surrounds the neck of Shetland sheep, which must be handplucked, not sheared. There are fewer than half a dozen people left with the skill to spin this incredibly fine wool into thread, and a single shawl can use as much as six miles of the stuff. Allied to the relative scarcity of the material, there are perhaps as few as a dozen women capable of knitting these extraordinary garments which can incorporate more than half a million loops so they're probably only going to get more valuable.

This clip is from Tonight. Originally broadcast 5 May, 1964.




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