Museum News
December 2024
First I would like to thank all our visitors and Friends for another wonderful year, as always it is a pleasure to meet new people and to welcome back some old friends. We have also had some interesting Group Visits and some fantastic feedback, it is always so rewarding to receive an appreciative comment in the book
or a thank you email from Visitors.
.In truth they are invaluable to us, it helps us to decide what direction to take as we plan the next years events and displays.
This year began with a trip to 'Wonder Wool Wales'
the week before our spring opening.
We took a costume display from the Museum and a selection of Knitting implements which generated a lot of interest.
We also launched our Hattersley fund raiser, which we will be continuing throughout the winter, whilst hopefully we start to build her new shed. You can read more about the Hattersley below, or you can go to the links page to find out more about our fundraising projects.
Our Hattersley
The Museum is dedicated to the history of the Welsh Textile Industry, However as a maker at heart the thought of producing some quality cloth is never far from my mind, The Hattersley Domestic was introduced in the early 1900s, now famed for being the loom used by the Harris Crofters to weave the original single width Tweed, It was also adopted by a number of small mills around Wales, Being foot powered it could be operated even when the river was dry and a water driven mill could do no other work, therefore it was perfect addition to a small mill.
Getting her Weaving Again
The Hattersley is perfect for weaving Flannels and Tweeds,
Our Aim is to see her weaving again,
first of all we have to build her a light and dry weaving shed,
Once she is in a safe and dry atmosphere we can set about getting her up and running,
I somehow doubt she will
run without a little love, care and a few replacement parts, but applying the 'where there is a will there is a way' principle, I hope soon to be weaving our own
Museum Tweed
and Flannel.
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Fund Raising
We aim to build her shed with plenty of natural light, having large glass windows will also mean that visitors can view the work in progress.
We initially estimated a cost of £6,000.00 to build her her house and start the set up.
We begun fundraising this year at Wonder Wool with a selection of hand made pincushions, I have lost count of exactly how many I have made but as we approach the year we are well on our way to the first £2,000.00.
We will of course be continuing into the New Year hoping to get to the 2,000.00 mark by the time the weather is good enough to make a start on the building.
Become a Friend or Sponsor us
The Museum will be closed between New year and Spring, we will however be working away behind the scenes, if any one wants to visit by appointment we will always make a visit possible providing we are not knee deep in mess...
We not only have the Loom shed to build but we also have a long list of things that need doing within the building, ...For those who haven't visited yet, The Museum occupies the Old School house which was built in 1834 since then it has seen various phases of modernisation, the Gallery and Workshop occupy the modern wing.
When we first moved here we had great dreams about holding Summer Events and the possibilities of holding larger classes, whilst we have achieved a lot over the past years , there is still a lot more to do, we have to restore the old toilets and re decorate the office wing, fix the defunct heating system and bring some of the lighting up to standard. (and that is just the beginning ).
If we could achieve all these in one year it would be a miracle, however the faster we get these done the sooner we will be able to do some of the really fun stuff like teaching and summer events which we hope will help us raise funds for the next stage .
In the new year we will be launching our fund raising page Haberdashers Bazar which you will be able to find on Instagram, you will also find a selection of interesting things for sale in our sister shop especially made or donated to raise funds for the Museum please see links page for details
If you would like to Donate or become a Friend and help with our Spring & Summer fundraisers, please contact us through the contacts page.
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