Trefriw Woollen Mill: In the 21st century

 

Above: Laying blend in the Mill as it is today.

1) Laying a blend. Several different types of wool are used in a blend. The quantities are weighed and are laid in layers to form a mound. Wool oil is added to help the wool pass through the machinery. The oil is synthetic and comes out when the wool is washed. 

 

The wool is picked up like a sandwich so that slices of the different wools are fed in together. The first two machines known as the "shaker" and the "fearnought" both consist of one big drum covered in sharp teeth which blend the wool lump by lump.

 

 

Above: Carding Engines

2) Carding engine - The blended wool is fed into the carding engine which consisits of large rollers covered in metal teeth known as card clothing) which get progressively finer as the wool travels down the machine. At the end of the machine the wool is rubbed into "slubbings" similar to threads but with no twist and therefore no strength and are collected on condenser bobbins.

 

3) The condenser bobbins are taken to the spinning mule. The mule has 360 spindles on a carriage which moves in and out stretching the slubbings and twisting them into a spun thread.

Two threads are twisted together to make a stronger yarn (doubling). The yarn is wound onto hanks ready for the dyeing process. The hanks are taken to the dyehouse and washed, dyed and dried. The yarn is then wound from the hanks onto cones for warping.

 

Above: Spinning Mule

 

Above: Warping

4) The warp is the vertical threads in the cloth and the correct number of threads have to be arranged in a colour sequence for weaving.

The cones for the warp are set up in a creel and wound onto the warping mill in sections. The warp is wound from the warping mill onto a beam in one sheet and fitted into the back of the loom.

All the machines date from the 1950's and 1960's.

 

Above: Weaving

5) Trefriw Woollen Mill's Welsh "tapestry" bedspreads are woven on Dobcross looms with 16 shafts. They are plain double weave which means that two cloths are woven on top of each other and the pattern is formed where the bottom cloth is brought to the top. The looms have long chains with pulleys and washers. The wider chain controls the shafts to make the pattern and the narrow chain controls which shuttle will be used. i.e. the weft and the colouring.

 

Above: The finished product.

6) The bedspread pattern has been woven here for over 100 years.

See the variety of designs and colours at www.t-w-m.co.uk in the form of bedspreads, cushions and throws.

The "Fabric" page at www.t-w-m.co.uk shows tweeds in houndstooth and herringbone designs used for clothes, soft furnishings, purses and bags.

The "Soft Furnishings" pages shows smaller repeats of the same designs as the bedspreads, forming designs for double weave fabric used for curtains, table mats and a variety of useful items.

The Mill despatches goods (which can be ordered on line at www.t-w-m.co.uk) to destinations around the world.