The rich history of Farsley’s historic textile industry at Sunny Bank Mills is being vividly celebrated at Leeds Station.
Eight colourfully-illustrated panels, inspired by the region’s weaving and textile industry, have been installed on columns on the main platforms at the station. They show different textile weaves layered with quotes of weaving terminology and processes.
The designs have been inspired by the wonderful collection of materials and oral history records from former mill workers from the archives of Sunny Bank Mills, the family-owned textile mill in Farsley.
The panels have been created by Elise Liversedge and Mary Hooper as part of their Arts Council-funded touring art project, Last Station.
Rachel Moaby, Archive Curator at Sunny Banks Mills, who guided Elise and Mary’s research, said:
“From my perspective, it was really interesting to see how the artists interpreted the collection from the cloth and weave to the words and stories of the people who worked here.
“This was a wonderful testament not only to the history of Sunny Bank Mills history but also to the textile heritage of Leeds and Yorkshire. It is a stunning celebration of the heritage of textiles.
“I am also very pleased and happy with the part Sunny Bank Mills played in the project and excited by the many thousands of people that will have the opportunity to look and read the art work while passing through Leeds Station.”
Elise Liversedge said:
“Visiting Sunny Banks Mills opened up an inspiring archive of the working life of a family-owned mill founded in 1829 – from tiny weights and measures to an amazing collection of thousands of exquisitely woven Merino wool and Cashmere suit fabrics.
“Alongside the swatches of material samples from the 19th Century to the 1980s, are objects that show a tangible working life of the mill: peg card books, dye testing record books, thread sample books, accounts, ledgers, tools for testing cloth, magnifiers for invisible mending and an additional social history archive to help in understanding the working lives in the mill during the 20th century.”
John Gaunt, joint managing director of Sunny Bank Mills, added:
“It has been an honour to help with this high-profile celebration of the city’s rich textile history. We hope some rail passengers will take the time to appreciate this amazing art work and reflect on how textiles shaped the city’s character.”
The panels will be on display over the coming year.
The project is supported by Arts Council of England National Lottery Grants for the Arts, Network Rail and Sunny Banks Mills Archive.
_____________
While you’re here…
Producing your daily dose of West Leeds Dispatch comes at a cost!
There’s the hosting of the website you’re reading now, running our popular e-mail newsletter, membership of independent press regulator Impress, attending summer events, paying for equipment etc etc.
We need at least £200 a month just to break even – that’s money currently coming out of the pockets of dedicated volunteers who are passionate about what’s happening in our communities, connecting you with local groups and organisations as well as holding decision-makers to account and championing local issues.
And all that’s BEFORE we even think about paying something for people’s time – for instance, our editor puts in more than 24 hours a week in his ‘spare’ time to ensure The Dispatch publishes daily.
To put it bluntly, after nearly four years of daily publishing, we are not sustainable!
And we need YOUR help to continue …
For the cost of less than a couple of cups of coffee you can help support local community news and continue to give our communities a voice by taking out a subscription for just £4 per month (that’s just a pound a week).
As a thanks you’ll get your name on a roll of honour on our website. More importantly you will be enabling us to keep bringing you the news that matters about your neighbourhood.
Achieving a bedrock of supporters will give us a firm financial footing and help us plan for the future.
Supporting us couldn’t be easier…
Just follow this link.
or set up a standing order with your bank:
Contact us on Paywestleedsdispatch@gmail.com if you’d like to do this.
Over to you …
