Leeds mill featured on TV series tonight

Stanningley’s own AW Hainsworth will be featured on A Stitch in Time on BBC Four at 8.30pm tonight. (Jan 10)

Using biography, art and the history of fashion, the series involves presenter Amber Butchart exploring the lives of historical figures through the clothes they wore.

On tonight’s episode she will look at Dutch painter Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait and visited the Hainsworth Mill at Spring Valley Mills where she was shown the processes wool goes through to create the broadcloth used to make such clothing.

Julie Greenhough, marketing manager at AW Hainsworth, said: “We have such a rich heritage that it means we were actually there first-hand during the manufacturing of historical cloths such as those used to make the Arnolfini gown. “This puts us in a brilliant position to be able to share our knowledge with others and help people to find out more about how things were done centuries ago.”

A specialist textile company, AW Hainsworth is a seventh-generation family-owned business.

Owners say it has been an “unrivalled market leader” for more than 230 years.

Its woollen cloths are used for fashion apparel, costume design, academic uniforms and ceremonial military dress, as well as for fire personal protective equipment, piano felt, car headlining, cue sports and bakery belting.

The programme will also be available to view via the BBC website’s iPlayer service by logging on to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes