North Devon felted panels
North Devon is a beautiful place to visit or live.
The felted panels were produced as a celebration of North Devon for a window display.
Read about the creation of the panels and about North Devon itself.
from coast
The coast panel shows a view of Saunton Sands, with the dune system beyond.
This dune system forms part of the officially designated UNESCO North Devon Biosphere.
The beach itself is loved by visitors and locals alike, with miles of golden sand and waves that bring surfers and more to it's shores.
The Saunton Surf Lifesaving building is shown, along with the row of beach huts in sunshine, late in the day, with a lone surfer making it in from a day on the waves.
to moor
The moor panel shows an isolated tree at the top of Brendon Common, looking back over the valley of Lank Combe, with the rolling hills beyond.
Exmoor is designated a National Park (one of two found in Devon) and straddles the border, as it extends into Somerset.
Much of Exmoor is open grazing for sheep, cattle and native Exmoor Ponies. The panel shows the heather commonly found on the moor in full bloom, along with Red Ruby Devon cattle around the tree.
Creating the panels
The panels are created using primarily British Wool - Shetland fibre top to be precise.
The fibre is first laid out for each panel and wet felted, with detail added by needle felting additional fibre in place. To create the buildings on the Coast panel, there are some bamboo and recycled silk sari waste fibres, so I can't claim them to be 100% British Wool.
Shetland fibre is 29 micron (the thickness of each fibre in the fleece), so it creates a robust felt, which enables it to hold its shape without sagging when displayed in the window.
If you are interested in visiting North Deon, there is a wealth of information at Visit North Devon & Exmoor with lots of things to see and do - there may even be a nugget or two on there that even seasoned locals might not know!