THE site of Masham auction mart was placed on the market this week. It is likely to be sold for housing – a sad end for a mart once considered one of the best in Yorkshire for sheep sales.

Also this week, the Prince of Wales launched an initiative to “re-brand” wool, an attempt to make it more fashionable, to change its image, making it more Versace rather than Val Doonican.

His Royal Highness hopes that by presenting wool as a sustainable, long lasting material, it could once more treated as at least the equal of man-made fabrics. It is also hoped that woollen carpets and rugs might become the first choice for flooring, supplanting the current enthusiasm for wooden and tiled coverings.

Increasing demand for wool would help to increase the price paid to farmers for fleeces. At one time, a sheep farmer could expect the money received from the sale of fleece to pay for the £3-4 cost of feeding a sheep for a year.

Today, fleece prices have dropped to less than £1 a piece.

When the cost of shearing (£1-1.40) is taken into account, wool farming is uneconomic.

We hope the Prince’s initiative is a success. Sheep farmers need to earn more for their produce to maintain the industry which is so important for the management of the country’s most precious landscapes.

Sadly, it is too late for Masham mart, but we hope the houses likely to be built there will enjoy the comfort of wool carpets and that the people that live in them will learn to love woollen clothes again.