Textiles Today

Laxtons have been making worsted and fancy yarns in Yorkshire since they were founded in 1907. After moving much of their manufacturing overseas during the late C20th, they recently brought it all back to the UK with the opening of a state-of-the-art new spinning mill in Baildon in Bradford.

Photography by Tim Smith

Two years ago, I saw this job. And I rang them up and said ‘I’m looking for a job as a textile spinner.’ They interviewed me, and they told me, ‘Oh, this is the machine, test it out.’ Even though I haven’t done it for about 40 years, I still know how to do it. And they says to me, ‘When do you want to start?’ I says, ‘I’ll start now!’ So I started the next day and I’m very satisfied. I feel so relaxed and it’s a lot of fun.

Jahangir Ahmed,

Spinner, West Yorkshire Spinners, Keighley

Today’s Textile Landscape

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Tim Smith - Wyedean Weaving Machinery in Haworth

Wyedean Weaving Machinery in Haworth Photo: Tim Smith

Pride Working in Bradford’s Textiles

Interviewee: Rebecca Ough

Rebecca Ough | Transcript

I think it’s a really good career path is textiles and I do think that sometimes it’s overlooked in this area, but it’s a really growing industry. A lot of the really good textile companies in the area tend to be family run, have a really good, sort of, community. And yeah, everyone I’ve worked with in textiles is really sort of interested and engaged in what they’re doing and do have a feeling of, yeah, pride about what they’re making because it’s, I think it’s… it is such a craft and a skill. And I think there’s so many different career options within textiles, like engineering, like mechanical engineering is a really big thing in textiles. So it’s not just the design side, it’s like, there’s a whole spectrum of different jobs in textiles.

Photographer Carolyn Mendelsohn and Textile Artists of A Cloth for the Lost Mills

Interviewees: Hannah Lamb and Hannah Robson

Hannah Lamb and Hannah Robson| Transcript

HL: Hi, I’m Hannah Lamb and I’m a lecturer in textiles, but I’m also a textile artist. And my background is in stitched textiles, but I also do quite a lot of mixed media and printed textiles. And I’ve been teaching and working in the Bradford area for the past 20 years. And I’m just really fascinated with all aspects of textiles, I suppose.
HR: I’m Hannah Robson. I also teach with Hannah at Bradford School of Art. I’m a weaver and my background has been fully in weave in all sorts of different ways. And I teach woven textiles. And I’ve been recently obsessed with jacquard weaving, which is a strong part of the project.

A Close up of A Cloth for the Lost Mills

Textile Artist Sharing Inspirations for Layering Cultures

Interviewees: Alison Welsh

Alison Welsh| Transcript

I’ve got a background in fashion design, so I knew that clothes were going to be an important part of this and what people wore in the mills to keep themselves warm because it was often cold. But also just the feeling of the 1970s and the flares and a 1970s shirt that’s see-through. I wanted a see-through 70s shirt to be included. Not that they would have worn that in the mill, I suppose! But because it’s white and it’s quite translucent I wanted it to feel sort of quite lightweight and transient. And because there’s a skylight above the piece I wanted to play with the light so that you could kind of see through it and give you an insight into the slightly ghostly quality on the ghost mills that the project is about.

Nabeela Ahmed's Poetry on Layering Cultures

Lost MIlls & Ghost Mansions, a multi-media exhibition inspired by the heritage of Bradford's textile industry by 509 Arts at Salts Mill, was presented as part of Saltaire Inspired, a festival held over the Bank Holiday weekend. It included a large scale textile artwork Layering Cultures by Alison Welsh, which celebrates the personal memories and life experiences of Bradford’s textile communities and its industrial legacy. Photos by Tim Smith.

The Modern Designing Method

Photograph: Weaving Department at Wyedean Weaving, Bridgehouse Mills, Haworth by Tim Smith | Interviewee: Rebecca Ough

Rebecca Ough | Transcript

My loom is semi computerized, so I do a lot of my design work on a computer, but a lot of the time actually it starts off with squared paper and I’m drawing out patterns before inputting it onto my computer. I guess it’s like the same process on a computer like I’ve got a grid which I’m drawing squares on so it’s still the same process, not much has changed in terms of that.

The Truth Behind ‘Designed in Britain'

Interviewee: Kate Rawnsley

Kate Rawnsley | Transcript

You’ll often see, well it will say, ‘Designed in Britain.’ It’s not made in Britain; it’s just designed in Britain. So basically, you will do your design on the computer, wing it over to Indonesia or India or China where it gets woven, and they can be weaving it within the hour. Which is just mind-blowing. It’s incredible. But this is globalisation.

Practical Skills for Future Generations

Photograph: Elisabeth and Michael Mitchell with Hand Loom

Elisabeth Mitchell | Transcript

It saddens me. Because, as I say, around the corner there, I do hand spinning… and it does sadden me that…I’m not being sentimental… but we’re losing skills. And I know we don’t need to know how to do hand spinning and things like that now. But once these people have gone, people will no longer understand how things were processed. Or even how to use wool or fabric. I mean, you’ll see up there I still do a lot of craftwork, knitting and making things, and that. And it saddens me that all those things will be lost. Two of our granddaughters,…well, all three… have learned how to knit in a fashion, and use a sewing machine and things. But I don’t think their children will. And they’ll say, ‘Well it’s just an old fashion thing.’

Lost Mills Textile Commissions

Lost MIlls & Ghost Mansions, a multi-media exhibition inspired by the heritage of Bradford's textile industry by 509 Arts at Salts Mill, was presented as part of Saltaire Inspired, a festival held over the Bank Holiday weekend. It included a large scale textile artwork Layering Cultures by Alison Welsh, pictured here, which celebrates the personal memories and life experiences of Bradford’s textile communities and its industrial legacy. Photos by Tim Smith.

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