The English Sewing Cotton Company Scrapbook

  This map of Dewhurst 's Mill in Skipton dates from the 1850s. It shows that the name of the Mill came from the general area rather than being plucked out of imagination. Note Belle Vue Cottage to the left and Belle Vue Brewery top right. The gasometer demonstrates the source of power before electricity.  Search Amazon.co.uk for books and downloads by Sarah Miller Walters 

Sylkology is the study of the origin of Sylko colour names. Gobelin is named after a famous French family of dyers and tapestry makers from the 15th and 16th Century. Rose du Barri - The name of the beautiful pink shade comes from a colour used on Sevres porcelain in the 18th century. Biskra is the name of a city in Algeria - the colour is reminiscent of baked sand. Buckingham Lilac and St James Rose are from a 1930s series of colours named after royal palaces to mark the Coronation of George VI. Click here for my books on 20th century icons

 The English Sewing Cotton Company had just a brief sojourn in the city of Derby,  although they retained several other mills along the Derwent Valley. The Mill in Derby City centre is now known as the Museum of Making, although for many years prior to this museum opening it was known as Derby Silk Mill. https://derbymuseums.org/museum-of-making/ I was lucky enough to visit the mill while it was being turned into the Museum of Making, and see behind the scenes as part of my job. I remember it being cold, cavernous and empty. The noise while machinery was operating in that building must have been so damaging. The ESCC years lasted from just 1897 to 1908 although the mill itself had a much longer history.  It had originally been built in 1717 as a "silk throwing mill" and had been taken over by George Wigley in 1867. Using up to date machinery for the time, they manufactured silks, lace and hosiery among other goods. Wigleys were amalgamated into the ESCC on its establishme...

  The Sylko Dyeman He colour dips skeins among stainless steel Below chimneys and above Lowry scenes Shading cotton to be spooled on a reel Holding together our city-bred seams But when he names his colours he goes back To Derbyshire fields, valleys and hedgerow His history sublimated by the crack Of shuttle through loom, slip fast and narrow In a dark cavern church a bride holds still Her "Spring Bloom" dress trimmed with Harebell Tint bows Handkerchiefs ripple wave in Eau de Nil A shade of sky not seen since chimneys rose  Mothers dress their babies in Forget me Not Thread thin connection to the half forgot. Visit my Etsy shop SewSylko  

 A fire at a cotton mill. Whenever you read about the history of English cotton mills,  you're going to be reading about a fire at some point. The mixture of cotton fibres, wooden floors, hot machinery and oil was a firestorm waiting to happen. When Dewhursts first built their mill in Skipton it burned down almost immediately. Luckily for those that were employed there, the mill was rebuilt and put back into operation as quickly as possible. But the company learned from it and measures were put in place to prevent another disaster. A report appeared in the Cotton Factory Times newspaper in February 1910. A fire had broken out at Dewhursts' Belle Vue Mill in Skipton on a Saturday evening. But this time, it wasn't a disaster. A watchman was on site, and he spotted the smoke and then the burning cotton. The report tells us: "He immediately summoned the fire brigade belonging to the mill, and by their efforts the flames were extinguished...the damage, which is entirely cov...

  A Manlove reel has appeared on ebay. The Manlove Mill at Holymoorside (see previous post on Manloves ) closed in the early years of the 20th century, so this is probably a Victorian reel. The other end of the reel has Manlove imprinted into the wood, and this one has an in tact paper wrapper. Quality stuff, but unfortunately costing more than I can justify paying at the moment.

 A poem speculating on the use of an early Sylko cotton reel - D31 Dark Emerald. She has decided to join them With her reel of Emerald Green cotton Yes, she's made her mind up The system is wholly rotten She has decided to make it known Green cotton will help others to tell Where her sympathies lay A small rosette upon her lapel She will wear the hand sewn badge An allegiance to green, purple, white Nothing too ostentatious  It would be shameful if there was a fight She will tentatively wear the colours Perhaps to the library first Miss Tuner might nod her approval Or ignore it at the very worst She's decided to be a suffragette  With the colours pinned to her coat Her hands tremble as she stitches Oh! The very nerve of seeking a vote! Seek out my short stories and poems on Amazon  - look for Sarah Miller Walters. 

 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...

 In November 1934, Princess Marina of Greece married the Duke of Kent. It was reported in newspapers throughout the UK just before the wedding that she was to have a colour named after her to mark the occasion. At the behest of The Colour Council, she consented to let her name be used for a new shade of green. Marina Green was a bluish green, apparently very subtle and suitable for evening dresses. Interesting that green was used and not the more predictable blue - it was still the fashionable colour.  By December, boxes of Christmas bonbons were being packaged in boxes of a Marina Green shade. And it appeared in the latest batch of Sylko thread colours - D347.  Find my Sylko books on Amazon