Crewel Work
Bayeaux Tapestry, depicting the events of the Battle of Hastings and Norman Conquest in 1066, record of it first appears on the Bayeaux Cathedral inventory in 1429. Well, I thought I knew what was meant by Crewel Work, but there is debate amongst embroiderers,...
Double Cloth
Our 2015 series of blogs all relate to cloth weaving, printing or otherwise embellishing. The hope is that we further educate ourselves about the products that we sell and visit some of our fantastic suppliers who are busy manufactering high quality textiles in the...
What do Cider Maker’s Do All Day? Tinsmiths’ Calendar Post
In this series of "working lives posts" I have tried to ask everyone comparable questions and not assume that anyone chose their career! Cider-maker Simon Day gave me a great set of answers so I have simply given them, unedited, and added photographs. How did you (or...
What do Blacksmiths do all Day? Tinsmiths Calendar Post
Until now our working lives have been those advanced in their careers. Luis, at 19yrs and just six months out of college, is at the beginning of his working life and we asked him few questions. How did this begin? “When I was fifteen my school programme of work...
What do Fruit Growers do all Day? Tinsmiths’ Calendar Post
This morning was not the best time to turn up at Cilla Clive’s Fruit Farm, Redbank, close to Ledbury. Despite the pressures of harvesting, monitoring ripening apples and huge decisions to be made as the fruit market across Europe reels at the fallout from Russian...
Ledbury Country Market 1944-2014
Next Friday 'Ledbury Country Market' is celebrating it's 70th birthday. The 'Market' takes place every Friday throughout the year in St. Katherine's Hall (handily situated between the towns main carpark and the High Street) and sells all manor of locally produced...
Bright Young Things: Hereford College of Arts
Herefords Textile Design BA(hons) course has become outstanding over recent years with a talented and committed group of tutors; the excellent degree show is one of the events I really look forward to. So I was delighted when Tinsmiths was asked to provide a 'Real...
Tinsmiths’ Calendar Post – What do Potters do all day?
Trying to keep to a format for our Working Lives interviews has been a bit of a struggle. Visiting places of work often means that my mind veers off immediately to ask about a tool or technique, forgetting to stick to the questions I had planned; however I made an...
Tinsmiths Calendar Post – What do Green Woodworkers do all day?
Sitting at a generous ash dining table she made in her sun-filled home near Ledbury, I asked Gudrun Leitz to tell me how she became a green woodworker. “I always knew that I had worker’s hands, that I would do something with these” she said, offering them,...
Tinsmiths Calendar Post – What do Hairdressers do all day?
On being asked why he became a hairdresser, Mervyn Parnell is liable to give one of two answers, either: "I was good at art, I could draw and I knew I was creative. I could have gone to art college but it was full of ‘hippies’ not people like me, so I thought that...
Tinsmiths’ Calendar Post: What do Upholsterers do all day?
Sam Prentice’s workshop is crammed with furniture. It’s always this way when I visit. Sam is self conscious about it, ‘You can’t photograph here, it’s too messy’ he protests. Over the years I’ve come to understand that any upholsterer that isn’t busy isn’t very good....
Tinsmiths’ Calendar Post : What do Chocolatiers do all day?
Sitting in the Velvet Bean's chocolate kitchen, beside the shop in Church Street, Ledbury, was a deep breathing moment for me. Paddles slowly turning the gently warming chocolate in three "bain mairies" that look like they mean business immediately attract my...