On Monday 30th June HRH the Prince of Wales dropped in (not entirely unexpectedly) to pay us a visit here at Melin Tregwynt, meet the staff and to attend the “Making it in Wales” event organised by Creative Skillset Cymru.
A Royal appointment for our diaries.
Its giving us pins and needles in excited expectation to think that on Monday 30th June HRH the Prince of Wales will be dropping in to pay us a visit…(we probably won’t sleep between now and then). Our apprentice in residence ‘Sean of the thread’ , seen here, will show Prince Charles the ins and outs of weaving. Sean has been learning the ropes here for some time…. to become a master weaver takes more than 5 minutes – in fact the learning never stops.
On Monday 30th June
We will…
down tools
shut up shop
get scrubbed up
don our snappy duds & best frocks
roll out the carpet
get the kettle on…
and welcome HRH the Prince of Wales
to our little corner here by the sea…
For more details click on the image below and link to our Facebook events page
I came across this fantastic short film about weaving that dates from 1941. From the sheep on the hill, the film follows sorting, scouring, carding, blending, spinning, weaving and finishing.
These days our yarn is scoured, carded and spun elsewhere but we continue to do the warping and weaving here at Tregwynt. I can remember from my childhood when all of the processes featured were carried out at Tregwynt almost exactly like the film, and all the machinery looks very familiar too!
(Films of Britain - British Council Film Department Catalogue - 1942-43)
We’re delighted to be showing again at ICFF in New York 17th – 20th May and we hope you’ll come along and see us at Booth 2411. You can register for free entry to the show here
We will be showing our range of fabrics, throws and cushions in pure new wool and our new upholstery fabrics, along with a great range of bags and accessories again featuring our signature cloths.
All our designs are exclusively woven by us at our mill in Pembrokeshire (which has been in our family for over 100 years). Many of our most popular fabrics are vintage classics dating from the 1950s, but re coloured to suit contemporary taste.
We specialise in short runs with bespoke and custom ranges for designers, hotels and selected stores. We supply John Lewis, Libertys and SCP and we have collaborated on joint projects with Heals, Tate Britain and The Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
If you can’t make it to the show you can download our latest catalogue here
Hoping to see you in New York.
To mark the event of our water wheel being reinstated after months and months of renovation work by our skilled and patient Paul ‘the spin doctor’ (our water wheel repair man) and with a little help from a local fabrication workshop - we decided that we should release a new limited edition to celebrate the return of our water wheel.
These are two of our standard designs - KNOT GARDEN & ST.DAVIDS CROSS - to which we have added a new limited edition colourway for 2014.
Both designs are reversible & come embroidered with their very own edition number. Throws are fringed on two edges, and cushions are sewn to reveal the two different sides of the cloth. Made from 100% Pure New Wool - giving them both enduring and endearing qualities akin to old Welsh tapestry blankets which have kept families happily warm and so stylishly comfortable since back in the day when our water wheel was brand new (over 100 years ago).
For details click on the link below.
2014 limited edition
Visitors to the mill can now see our newly restored wheel in action. The wheel was here when my grandfather purchased the mill in 1912, and after working for many years, had sadly become a little stiff in the joints - as the bearings had worn themselves out after many years of toiling to drive our old mill with a ‘Heath Robinson-esque’ system of cogs/drive shafts/leather belts etc.
The wheel has been away undergoing “treatment” for the last two years and we are very happy to see it back again, safe and sound and bursting with energy. We’re currently putting a film together showing some of the work we’ve done on the wheel and we’ll put it online as soon as possible.
Before the days of electricity this remarkable wheel with the help of our little stream, Glethe Goch would provide all the power to keep the mill working. In Phase 2 of the project we hope to use our newly rejuvenated wheel to generate power once again (going - Back to the Future!).
If you come to down here to West Wales make sure that you make time to come and see the wheel working again, here at Tregwynt.
Update
on 2016-07-06 14:03 by Eifion Griffiths
We have included a link to a video showing the work being done on the wheel below.
Celebrate Mother’s Day next weekend with a free hot drink for your mam and a selection of our special cakes at the mill cafe. We’ve lots of unique gifts available from our mill shop so come on down here to wildest West Wales and give her a treat.