United Kingdom : Final Effort to Save Textile Heritage

Campaigners have launched a new attempt to save the world’s oldest working textile machines which were discovered in a Victorian "time capsule" in the Borders more than a decade ago.

The Friends of Dangerfield in Hawick hope to salvage rusting equipment in the A-listed mill which they fear is at risk of being lost forever.

Industrial archaeologists were amazed to find the spinning mules and carding machines were still producing high-quality yarn in the mill which invented the name tweed for the manufacture of woven cloth.

Historic Scotland immediately placed an A-category listing on Dangerfield Mill, whose machinery dates from 1873, to ensure its survival.

The National Heritage and Memorial Fund was also urged to acquire the property, built by William Watson, and its unique contents. There were even grandiose plans for a working museum and visitor attraction. However, the subsequent failure to assemble a viable financial package to safeguard Dangerfield means the future of much of the mill, where 400 people once worked, is now at risk and the rusting equipment is unlikely ever to run again.

Now, in a last-ditch bid to highlight the mill’s plight, the Friends of Dangerfield group is calling for a fresh assessment of the situation to see if the machines could still be salvaged. There is resentment in Hawick that an outstanding opportunity to boost the town’s flagging economy has been missed.

The mill remains in private ownership, with a small section of the weaving shed used by a knitwear manufacturer.

James Dunlop, a founder member of the Friends group, said: "This collection is of international importance because there is no other facility to match it in the world. If the opportunity arises, the machines should be restored and kept in a suitable environment."

Mr Dunlop is trying to arrange a meeting with conservation officials, and said his group would call for a campaign to save Dangerfield if the property was ever put on sale.

Historic Scotland found the original machinery working almost by accident during a routine survey of Borders woollen mills in 1991.

Scotland’s museum community had been completely unaware of the 19th century interior, or the highly skilled group of people working the old mules.

Keeping the machinery running was a major task for experienced engineers. One of them, John Common, worked in the mills for 58 years and continued to proudly demonstrate the mules and carding machines to visitors after Watson’s closed.

He said: "I was at Dangerfield only a few weeks ago trying to board up broken windows.

"It is a shame to see the place going to rack and ruin, and the listing process has not helped at all. The current owner wanted to develop the working museum concept, but there was no financial support available."

Mr Common is convinced the machines, made by a renowned firm of engineers named Flass, will now never turn again.

He said: "They will have become rusted and pitted, and I don’t see how they can be saved after standing idle for so long. The best solution now would be to bulldoze the place."

William Watson founded his company in 1804. It survived into the 1980s before being taken over by new owners.

However, the business failed in 1991, and local councils made money available to keep the premises heated for a short time after the closure to help preserve the machines.

It was Watson’s which gave the name tweed to the weaving industry. A spelling mistake on a London merchant’s order for tweels (the Scottish equivalent of twills) launched tweed as an international marketing term.