1964: SHETLAND SHAWLS are more valuable than GOLD | Tonight | Fashion | BBC Archive

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 hand-plucked, 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. You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of tv to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic tv clips from the BBC vau