SPINNERS Florence Hargreaves and Dorothy Waring are so crazy about their craft that they chased a Spanish herdsman across an idyllic hillside for the wool off his sheep's backs.

The two "mad" Lancashire women appeared on the horizon and began running towards the shepherd yelling "baa! baa" and "clip, clip, clip" as they made the scissor sign with their fingers.

Not waiting to find out what the pair had in store for him or his sheep, the shepherd turned on his heels and a Benny Hill-style chase ensued over the rolling hills.

"He thought we were mad and was running for his life," chuckled 68-year-old Florence, holding newly-spun wool in her hand. The pair spotted the shepherd when they travelled into the hills in a hired car on their Spanish holiday. Eventually they caught up with him, calmed him down and bargained in broken Spanish. They parted with pesetas and left with sackfuls of fleeces under their arms.

Mother-of-three Florence and 52-year-old Dorothy spent the rest of their break washing the grubby fleeces and bewildering holidaymakers by hanging them over their apartment balcony rails to dry.

Florence, lives with husband Alan at Brownlow Terrace, in Pleasington, Blackburn. Mother-of-four Dorothy and husband John, live in Pole Lane, Darwen. The pair met on a hand-spinning course 16 years ago and have been inseparable ever since.

And although the clog-and-shawl days of hand-spinning died out over 200 years ago, the ancient craft of turning fibres into yarn is very much alive today for them.

The history of textiles goes back to more than 3,000 years before the birth of Christ.

Egyptian mummies were wrapped in linen in the tombs.

Fairy tales such as Rumplestiltskin and Sleeping Beauty feature spinning in their plots.

The pair have set up a support group called the Mid Lancashire Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers and are staging spinning and dyeing exhibitions and presentations to raise cash for cancer research. Men and women from all over the North attend classes the pair run at Dorothy's cottage, the interior of which is history ;esson in itself. Spinning wheels and bags of wool occupy every conceivable space and spindles take the place of pictures on the wall.

Dorothy said: "We are trying to get rid of the mystique behind hand-spinning and let people know it is easy to learn, relaxing and fulfilling."

Their love of spinning has turned every sunshine break into a hunt for fibres. They have picked cotton with Turkish immigrants in Greece, held up a coach tour to pick lichen in Fuerteventura and taken their portable spinning wheels to Germany.

"Hand-spinning is an international language. For example, we can use the craft to communicate with old women who live in the Greek countryside and know no English," said Florence.

Dorothy even took the rare opportunity to spin for charity outside the Mountain Rescue caravan in Glencoe, Scotland, while her husband helped crews save a climber.

No person or animal is safe near the pair, who have spun the hair of humans and the coats of rabbits, horses, goats, camels, cats and even dogs. "They are washed thoroughly before we spin them," said Florence, who shunned the suggestion that someone donning a poodle hair jumper would feel inclined to pause at every lamp post and be tailed by a trail of curious canines. They even make prickly cardigans out of nettles - which they promise don't sting!

The yarns are spun for pleasure and are later developed into everything from coats to Dr Who scarfs.

The twosome also try their hand at crocheting and dyeing and Dorothy loves to sew.

Florence, a former telephonist for Norweb who has been spinning for 18 years, said: "Since a child I have been fascinated by spinning.

"I love the feel of pure wool and it is a real challenge to spin yarn. You can make original garments as well."

Dorothy taught at Darwen Gymnastics Club, where her husband still works as a trainer, before being forced to leave due to injuries suffered in a car accident. She has been hand-spinning for 15 years. "I bought an old spinning chair at an auction. John later surprised me by buying me an old wheel to go with it - and I've never looked back," she said. "People are fascinated by hand-spinning. It's our past, it's our history but if people don't pass on the skill it will be lost."

The guild meets on the second Saturday of every month and hand-spinning classes are every Tuesday, from 7pm to 9pm. Anyone interested should contact Florence on 01254 209038 or Dorothy on 01254 776334.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.