Whittles Silk Mill, Leek

Date:1989

Description:Paul Anderton talks to Mr Whittles:-
We’ve come to the winding room now Mr Whittles.
That’s right. This is the top floor of the oldest part of the mill. This is where the silk is wound from skeins onto bobbins so that we can start to process it.
And these peculiar devices we’ve got here – the long spoky things – what are they?
We call those “swifts”, and really they’re a frame to hold the skein of raw silk whilst it’s being wound onto the bobbin.
So it’s just held in the frame quite loosely?
Yes – the operative just slides it on, straightens it out, finds the end of silk which is the beginning of the skein, places it up on the bobbin and we’re now ready to start the manufacturing process.
How many sifts are there on the machine?
She has a hundred swifts on this machine and she operates the whole machine on her own.
How long does it take for one skein to wind off?
It’ll take about a day.
Will it? For one skein to wind onto the bobbin?
Yes – it’s very fine as you can see. There are probably several miles of filament silk on this bobbin.

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Donor ref:Archive film reference: M.55 (26/6069)

Source: Staffordshire Film Archive

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