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[Background music throughout the video]
Tom: [If I don’t get this bit right, nothing works, if i’m not here you’re forever
fighting] Anna: [People can come here and they can see
the weaving in process, and they can chat to the weavers and ask them questions. We
get alot of people from the weaving industry don’t we, who go ‘I remember back in the
day when we worked on this, that and the other [laughter]]
Tom: [There’s not that many jobs these days where you can make it and sell it. The manufacturing
side of the business starts in here. We set up all our patterns onto this machine here
so we’ll put 80/100 cones of wool on, thread them through in the right order so we end
up with a pattern as we would expect it to come out]
Anna: [We had the great pleasure of weaving rugs for Prince Charles a few years back for
his Welsh home, so he came down and Tom let him loose on the looms didn’t you]
Tom: [yes, he went away with a bit of his own carpet [laughter] which was quite amusing.
Once we’ve done our work in there then we’ll bring all the yarns through on a big beam.
So the next bit of the process if to tie the warping that has been wound on the drum through
the back. It’s quite a nice job actually, quite relaxing. It’s a good one for those
learning to weave. We’ve got a little competition going between us who can tie the knots the
tightest. So far nobody can beat me. I’m sure the day will come. These machines are
very versatile. They can weave anything from very fine, like worsted cloth right up to
the heavy floor rugs. This is battlemere, right at the top end of what they will weave.]
Anna: [the machines are big heavy one tonne greasy oily machines and then to produce this
lovely cloth that people can touch and take home, you can’t get that it many places
these days. And this is always like a hidden, secret places that people like to stumble
upon, so we are very lucky]
Images by still shot: 1. Overlay with the Quality Cottages Q logo
and the words ‘introducing’ 2. Field of wild flowers on the St Davids
Peninsula 3. Overlay with the Quality Cottages Q logo
and the words ‘Solva Woollen Mill’ 4. Sheep herded by buggy at one of our St
Davids Holiday Cottages 5. Cloth at Solva Woollen Mill
6. Loom 7. Tom introduces verbal tour. See transcript
below. 8. Sign : The Woollen Mill. Est January 31,
1907. 9. Anna in the shop
10. Anna and Tom 11. Tom setting up the loom
12. Tour by Tom of the factory 13. Patterns set on a machine at this factory
near many of our Solva Holiday Cottages 14. Intro by Anna of Prices Charles buying
from them 15. Selection of floor rugs
16. Back into factory where warping is tied. People staying in our coastal cottages in
Pembrokeshire can visit to see this in process. 17. Shows the machines and a cloth under making
18. Shows the workings of the big machines 19. In the shop
20. Wool in raw format 21. Selection of items for sale in the shop,
a treasure trove for those staying in our holiday cottages in Pembrokeshire
22. Shows the shops coffee shop 23. Tom prepares fabric for sale.
24. Overlay ‘ Cherishing craftsmanship since 1961’
25. Quality Cottages Q logo and overlay ‘www.qualitycottages.co.uk’ 26. Overlay ‘Special thanks to Anna and
Tom’ 27. Overlay ‘To find out more about Solva
Woollen Mill see our blog: www.qualitycottages.co.uk/aroundwales’ 28. Overlay ‘Music Calmwaters by Ciggiburns’