After saying I didn't want to have anything to do with raw fleece I changed my mind - woman's prerogative - and bought 950 grms of Zwartbles of ebay and set about washing it. I chose Zwartbles as I thought if I am going to put a lot of effort into preparing a fleece I want something different to the usual tops I buy and I have never seen Zwartbles tops. In fact I had never heard of the sheep until I looked the breed up on the net and found that they are a Dutch breed which have fell out of favour in Holland but their numbers are increasing in the UK. 
Anyhow, I am really pleased with how the fleece is turning out although it is hard work. I have been washing (scouring) a smallish amount at a time and am about three quarters of the way through now. I have thrown very little away but I have spent quite a lot of time taking out bits of straw etc. and there is also a lot of sand in the fleece which happily has come out in the washing. The fleece is a really lovely colour and is very crimpy. I just hope it cards well and spins up nicely.
Last photo - after
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