Modern Day Views of the Belle Vue Mill, Skipton





 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Sylko Label Change Mystery

Image
 You can always tell the older wooden Sylko reels with their white and gold labels. These obviously pre-date the blue and white ones that are better known, because there are no colour names, only numbers and they are less modern in design. The big question for me is when did the changeover take place? When did the colours start to be given names on their labels? I would guess that it took place sometime in the mid-late 1920s. My reasoning is that I have an old style reel with a colour number D229 - this is the highest number that I own with labelling of this type. I also have an advertisement from 1930, stating that at that point in time, there were 280 shades. It is easier to date 1930s shades (see the post on the Colour Council) and at that point around 10 new shades a year were being introduced.  IF that rate was the same in the 1920s, then D229 was introduced in around 1925. But that if is everything. What we need is company documentation. And that still doesn't pinpoint e...
Read more

A Visit to the Archives

Image
 I was delighted to find out that an official English Sewing Ltd archive exists, and I determined to visit it. It is held by Manchester City Archives, which seemed like a good prospect, it being my second favourite city and only an hour across the Peak District along the glorious Hope Valley railway line. However after my initial investigations I soon realised that to see and utilise the archive might be more of a daunting project than I anticipated. I saw a note that at least 2 weeks notice is required, as it is stored away from the main site. I duly got in contact and put my request in. One of their lovely assistants soon got back to me to let me know that it is impossible to view the entire collection at once...there is so much of it. I expected a box of miscellaneous files...it turns out there is in fact 141 boxes. The assistant sent me list of each individual item, which runs to 56 pages. Here's the introduction page: As I wanted to catch the 14.43 back home I had to pick one ...
Read more

Post War Sylko Colours

Image
The British Colour Council continued to operate in the post war period, recommending uniformed colour trends of the coming year in fashion and home furnishings. As I outlined in my blog post about the set up and early years of the council, they particularly came into their own around royal events - or at least the colours introduced to mark these occasions received more prominent press coverage at the time. This trend returned after the WW2 hiatus and into the 1960s, with press reports dropping Sylko enthusiasts a few clues to the years that some of the shades were introduced.  In January 1953, a Leicester newspaper reported on the British Colour Council’s 2 day show in the city. Mention is made of shades introduced to mark Queen Elizabeth's coronation including Elizabethan Red, Princess Grey, Spun Gold and Beau Blue. I haven't seen these colours on a Sylko reel but then the article closes with the following line: "A joyous colour to my mind is Fiesta Pink, as different fr...
Read more