In March 2019 the National Lottery Heritage Fund gave the Learning Links International team the go ahead to start a community research project that we called ‘From Sheep to Sugar – Welsh Wool and Slavery’ to explore the story of the production of woollen cloth called 'Welsh Plains' between 1650 - 1850. This cloth was produced specifically for the international slave trade and was exported through Shrewsbury, London, Bristol and Liverpool. The project aimed to bring together volunteers from Mid and North Wales with an interest in the history of spinning and weaving, with families from farming communities interested in local history and heritage, and local historians, to explore the story of ‘Welsh Plains’ between 1650 and 1850 and its markets, using archival records and exploring Welsh place names.