Craftswomen preserving centuries-old textile techniques have received a shot-in-the-arm to help them keep spinning out their distinctive wares.
Members of the Durham Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers has been handed a welcome financial boost by the city’s freemen.
Often working with hand-held spindles to duplicate methods pioneered by long-lost civilisations, guild members have succeeded in creating a high-quality range of artefacts.
These include ornate tapestries, rugs, jackets, waistcoats, scarves, handbags, matching purses and table mats, many of which have won national recognition.
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Ann Evans, who still lives in Durham, is one of the original band of five friends who founded the guild and helped it grow to the now three-dozen strong throng.
“From those early beginnings we have produced some quite fantastic things and displayed our wares country-wide, including an exhibition of work in the cathedral’s Galilee Chapel which included woven braids.
“At the annual exhibition of the National Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, in Leigh, last summer, the work of four of our members was on display,” said the 88-year-old founding member.
It all started with a weekend tapestry weaving course at the DLI Museum in 1979 and then moved on to weekly WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) evening classes in the city.
They continued to cultivate their interest by hiring a teacher to lead their weekly meetings and, for a time, were supported by a professional tapestry weaver from Wales, as well as enjoying visits from other experts.
“The group grew steadily over the years and we were based in various venues within the city, becoming affiliated to the national association over 40 years ago, and have been regular contributors to the annual exhibition,” said Mrs Evans, the owner two dozen weighted spindles.
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The oldest in her collection is made of lead, found by an archaeologist near Yarm, and dates back to either the 12th or 13th Century.
Another is of Egyptian origin with spindles fashioned from a range of materials, including wood, stone and ceramics, but they have also been known to be made from a potato or clay.
The guild’s most popular spun material is mostly wool, but flax, silk, bamboo, cotton, hemp and other fibres are all used in their weaving, knitting and crocheting.
Group members meet once a month and also runs regular workshops which are open to members of the public.
Guild chairman, Diana Barclay, said: “The guild objectives are the promotion of public interest and education in the crafts of hand spinning and weaving and related textile crafts, alongside the development of techniques and equipment for the furtherance of our textile crafts.
“We’re grateful to the city freemen for their generous £300 grant which will help to realise our objectives”
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Eric Bulmer, chairman of the freemen’s charitable trustees, said: “The freemen’s craft guilds are believed to date back to the early 14th Century.
"But the weavers, founded in 1450, and the dyers, in the mid-17th Century, have long been consigned to antiquity.”
He praised the work of the guild, however, in maintaining and promoting the techniques.
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