Members of The Wool Clip were very sad to read of the recent death of Peter Titley, who died at home in Eccleshall near Stafford in mid-February at the age of 79. If you ever visited Woolfest in Cockermouth or if you're at all involved in rare or native breeds of livestock across the UK, you will recognise Peter's name.
Peter was actively involved in the Rare Breeds Survival Trust for many, many years, serving as President until 2014 and, prior to that, he had been the Chair and Vice Chair. Peter was also the former Chairman of the North Ronaldsay Sheep Fellowship and, early in 2015, was one of those involved in setting up the Orkney Sheep Foundation, which raises funds to protect the ancient Sheep Dyke of North Ronaldsay. This work has featured on Countryfile in the past and is an amazing project to maintain the unusual structure that is so important to the conservation of this native breed.
But our connection was closer to home as Peter was an amazing supporter of Woolfest.
He was part of Woolfest from the very start, giving talks initially and then providing the commentary for the Rare Breeds Parade in the main ring at Mitchell's every year thereafter. His Rare Breeds Parades were one of the absolute highlights of Woolfest for many people and were often mentioned as a favourite on our feedback cards.
As Alice remembers: "Peter came to me and 'retired' at what turned out to be the very last Woolfest we were able to hold in Cockermouth. Those Rare Breed Parades would not have been the same without him and they really helped Woolfest stand out from all the other events that followed on. His knowledge and humour were both simply brilliant."
Jean makes a similar point: "Even though he wanted to retire, I don't think any of us could actually imagine a Rare Breeds Parade without Peter. He was just as much a star of the Main Ring as the sheep. And he was a really lovely man too."
Our sympathy goes to Peter's partner, Stella, family, colleagues and friends.