DIGEST: LAST UK BUTTON MANUFACTURER CLOSES, MOULTON, SIR KENNETH GRANGE, FACTORY VISITS

Great designers in the news:

Alex Moulton, engineer and designer, passed away earlier this month (Dezeen)

Kenneth Grange knighted (BBC)

Factory visits:

A visit to the Gloverall factory in Wellingborough (Proper Mag)

Inside the Private White V.C. factory (Cool Hunting)

At bicycle component manufacturer Royce, in Hampshire (Headset Press)

Steve Salter visits the Sunspel factory in Long Eaton (Port Magazine)

News items:

The shock collapse of the last British button manufacturer (Halesowen News)

Why are British factories turning away business? (Make it British)

Raspberry PI and the UK manufacturing resurgence (Wired)

On livery companies: British institutions (FT)

On skills shortages among young workers (Economist)

A piano maker tells of Thatcher's impact on UK piano manufacturing (Port Magazine)

Ale and cider:

The history of cider in the UK (Hot Rum Cow, ps 13-16)

Britain's lost breweries and beers (The Good Stuff)

Event:

David Hieatt (of Hiut Denim) to talk in London on Tuesday 15th January (YCN)

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Photo of Moulton bike from Dezeen

DIGEST: TEXTILES, WELSH WEAVING, SCOTTISH TWEED, BESPOKE BICYCLES

An interview with Matthew Sowter and Ricky Feather, the team behind 'Made in England', a book on bespoke bike making (Port)

An audio slideshow of Donald John Mackay, a Harris Tweed weaver (Guardian)

An essay by Daniel Miller on the Power of Making (UCL)

A textiles magnate predicts the resurgence of the UK industry (FT)

Beautiful photos of the work at a Pembrokeshire mill/melin (Cherchbi)

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Photo of Pembrokeshire mill from Cherchbi

DIGEST: LONDON CLOTH, RALEIGH, BOOKBINDING, BEER & SPIRITS

Lots of things coming in twos:

Following on from the London Cloth post, here is a beautiful two-parter on the work of SEH Kelly with the one man mill

On the rise and fall of Raleigh, the Nottingham bicycle company (The Bike Show - audio)

Another two-parter: good in-depth article on the boom in British breweries and how gin, wine and whisky are also faring well (Huffington Post)

Bookbinding: At the Wyvern Bindery in Clerkenwell, London and at Shepherds on Rochester Row (Port / Boat Magazine respectively)

and some other odd bits:

Chanel buys Scottish knitwear manufacturer (NYT)

A feature on Marwood, the London based tie company (Style Salvage)

Dove Street Pottery in Yorkshire (OEN)

Not UK based, but interesting to note: Dayjob, a new magazine focusses on the joy of the everyday job (via Protein)

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Image of the London Cloth Company from SEH Kelly

RECENT DIGEST

A nice film on Irish craft from Makers & Brothers

A short article on the London Cloth Company (Hackney Citizen)

On furniture assembly at Ercol

A review of The Trebor Story, a book on the famous sweet company with origins in Stratford (Londonist)

TIM LITTLE AND PATRICK GRANT ON BRITISH CRAFTSMANSHIP

"In the past we’ve talked about moving our manufacturing away from Northampton, but if I was to move the factory to London, not a single person who makes our shoes would come, too. It’s the people who make the factory what it is; they are true craftsmen with years of experience. You can’t afford to lose them and you can’t recreate them, so we’re in Northamptonshire for good."

Tim Little of Grenson

"British people don’t appreciate how great their manufacturing is, unlike people in Japan or Korea, or even Italy and France. We overlook it because we’ve been fed this story that Italian manufacturing is amazing for so long that it’s deeply ingrained in our psyche. The difference is that while the Italians are very good at telling you how good things are, we’re very good at making things but terribly British about not saying how great they are."

Patrick Grant of E. Tautz

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Taken from a recent article in the Evening Standard

Photo of Grenson factory from Tenue de Nimes British Issue

DIGEST: PRINGLE, BEER, PAUL SMITH, CHRISTOPHER FRAYLING, LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL

J.W. Evans silver factory, acquired by English Heritage in 2008, is now open for tours

A promotional video from Pringle in 1961: The Cashmere Story (Pathé)*

Beer drinkers in Britain have never had it so good: over 1,000 breweries now in operation (Guardian)

Paul Smith on Jaguar and Land Rover: "They are British brands that are doing well because of their commitment to design and craftsmanship."(Telegraph)

Christopher Frayling (author of 'On Craftsmanship') interviewed on Desert Island Discs in 2003 (BBC Radio 4)

Deborah Meaden on the state of wool in the UK from earlier this year (BBC Radio 4)

At the London Design Festival 2012 (Sight Unseen)

And finally, this Thursday (27th September) there is a free talk on 'The New Industrial Revolution' with the FT's Peter Marsh at the RSA in London.

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*No doubt many hours could be spent viewing some of the excellent videos in the Pathé archive

RECENT DIGEST

A great feature on barley and brewing, preceded by a story on tea harvesting. Fantastic stuff from Farming Today. (Radio 4, note: only available until Friday morning)

Where Thomas Heatherwick's Olympic cauldron was made: Stage One, Yorkshire (Telegraph)

If you're in Edinburgh anytime soon you might like to visit the Dovecote Studios where Douglas Grierson is master weaver (Department of Small Works)

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Photo of Olympic cauldron petals from the (rather good) Olympic Opening Ceremony tumblr

MOULTON BICYCLES: MADE IN ENGLAND

RECENT READING DIGEST

Photos (and a lovely write up) of an outerwear factory in north London (SEH Kelly)

A series of essays exploring the importance of design and craft today, including an essay from Another Country's Paul De Zwart (Danish Crafts)

Interesting features on British creatives, including Scottish craft beer brewers Brewdog and Midlands-based textile designer Tori Murphy (We Heart)

A video of Sebastian Conran talking about what makes British products (Design Council)

Whitechapel Bell Foundry is offering 'special' tours during the Olympics (Londonist)

David Hieatt of Hiut Denim on 'the age of the specialist' (eatbigfish)

A great map of British factories - from furniture to flannel (Margaret Howell)

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Photo from SEH Kelly

RECENT READING DIGEST

Apologies for the fact that the Weekly Digest has been anything but weekly of late. Here is a round up of some recent reading:

BAE System's Dick Olver on his manufacturing blueprint (Independent)

A visit to David Mellor's cutlery factory in Derbyshire (The Guild of Food Writers)

A video showing how a Loake shoe is made (Make it British)

And a date for your diary, this October there's an event called 'Best of Britannia' happening in London (BOB)

Juliet Barker, master violin maker (Another Something)

WEEKLY DIGEST

A master shirtmaker in Kent (S.E.H Kelly)

Tools for Everyday Life from Northumbria University (Sight Unseen)

Information on Birmingham Made Me, a showcase of products made in the West Midlands (Pashley News)

Scotch is big business - Diageo said to be investing £1bn (FT)

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Photo from S.E.H Kelly

FACTORY VISITS TO DATE

Following a spike in interest (consequence of some welcome coverage from Another Something) last week I felt it timely to provide a quick round-up of the factories I have visited to date. As follows:

1. Stevenage Knitting Company : Stevenage, Hertfordshire

My first factory visit, in January 2011, was to the now defunct Stevenage Knitting Company where I met owner Paul Pinkstone. Sadly, the factory had just closed so was devoid of life. However, Mr Pinkstone was very generous with his time and showed me how various knitting machines worked as well as telling me about the illustrious history of his company.

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2. Sunspel : Long Eaton, Derbyshire

Next up was an early Springtime trip to Long Eaton in Derbyshire to meet Nicholas Brooke, co-owner of classic underwear brand Sunspel. Over the course of a couple of hours Mr Brooke showed me the company's archive and explained the family ties that exist in the current management.

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3. Globe-Trotter : Broxbourne, Hertfordshire

In March of 2011 I also ventured to Broxbourne in Hertfordshire to meet Gary Bott, creative director of Globe-Trotter. Mr Bott kindly told me about the luggage company's long history in detail and our conversation touched on what British manufacturing stands for today, as well as the importance of Japan. We also spent time on the factory floor, with Mr Bott showing me all of the processes that go in to the creation of a Globe-Trotter suitcase. I also had a quick chat with David, the factory manager.

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4. Brompton : Brentford, London

Another March 2011 visit saw me head to West London for a swift tour of the Brompton folding bicycle factory. Here I had the good fortune to meet Alan, the man responsible for quality control.

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5. Smith & Pepper : Hockley, Birmingham

A bit of a cheat's M&I visit in that this factory is now a museum. However, the guide gave a good overview of the working processes and history of this fascinating business at the heart of jewellery production in the West Midlands.

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6. Abbeyhorn : Holme, Cumbria

In late August of 2011 I visited Abbeyhorn, a company with over 250 years of history. It was a truly informative visit, made so by Graham who has been working at the horn product makers since 1974.

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7. Vitsoe : Camden, London

My final visit of 2011 was to Vitsoe, most famous for being the producers of Dieter Rams' 606 shelving system. Here it was the attention to detail that impressed most of all.

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8. Alfred Dunhill : Walthamstow, London

My most recent visit was to Alfred Dunhill in East London. I was accompanied by photographer Robin Mellor who did a fantastic job of capturing the spirit of the craftsmen and women who work on the leather goods there. The visit is available in three posts: the raw materials store, the master craftsman and the processes.

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A map showing the locations of the factories I have visited is here (it also shows a couple of distilleries I visited out of season)