|
|
|
Visit to LochCarron Mill Alwyn Johnston showed twenty-one club members around LochCarron. Alwyn has been welcoming parties to LochCarron for eighteen years and is hugely knowledgeable and very entertaining and this was a most enjoyable visit. Showing us a ‘’teazle’ Alwyn explained that this thistle, an example of 2000 year old technology, is grown in Spain. Inserted along a drum they are used in the finishing process to brush cloth, mohair and cashmere in particular. Teazles last about six months. We then had a preview of the tartan designed for the G8 summit to be held in July before moving on to look at two framed banners. The first banner belonged to the Weavers Guild, a male only association formed in 1666 to promote their trade. Weaving at this time was a cottage industry. The second banner belonged to the Galashiels Manufacturers’ Corporation established in 1777 by a group of 11 mill owners. With the introduction of mechanisation there was an increase in the quantity and quality of cloth produced and the need for a cheaper workforce. Women workers were encouraged into the mills. A powerful organisation the Manufacturers’ Corporation made sure workers got a good apprenticeship lasting 6-7 years. This Corporation is still active today whereas the Weavers Guild folded in 1847. The group then watched the water wheel in operation. The Mill Lade constructed to channel water from the Gala Water ran all the mills in the town with Lochcarron (Waverley Mill) being no.9. The water wheel is an American turbine design installed circa 1860. A shaft would have run across the mill from the wheel and powered all the looms. The original mill building is 200years old with an extension built later to house the steam engine used before the arrival of electricity. Proceeding from the Mill Museum to the mill itself the group learnt how the wool is pressure dyed, the colour saturation generally skilfully gauged by the ‘eye’ before rinsing, spin-drying and oven drying for eight hours. There is wool from Scotland and Australia, cashmere from Outer Mongolia, mohair from S African goats, silk from China, cotton from Egypt and rabbit from S America. We watched Black Watch tartan being warped. The warping gives a 70yd length, 65¼ ins. wide with 2,960 threads. Several cloths can be warped and put onto the same beam for weaving. Manual warping requires approx 4years training. We also saw an automated warping machine which is used for short runs and sampling as it is quicker to set up but can do no more than 70yds. We observed weaving, heard about the tremendous skill of the darners and had the washing, drying and shrinking processes explained. We enjoyed seeing finished fabrics ready to be sent worldwide.
|