Tag: weavers workshop

Making a meal of Open Days

“The rain it raineth every day”.

Oh and hasn’t it just? June has had a distinctly autumnal feel so far, although on the upside, the garden is looking fantastic! Medieval buildings are often pleasantly cool during the summer months but it certainly can be chilly when it’s cold.

We were therefore surprised, and pleased, to see so many visitors considering how dire the weather had been all week. Looking at the forecast we had resigned ourselves to the fact that we might just be on our own huddled around a vat of pease pottage in an effort to keep warm.

Tasted better than it looks!

Nearly out of mini-trenchers

Visitors cleaned us out of pottage

Speaking of the pottage, it went down incredibly well with most tasters saying that they enjoyed it… or that it wasn’t as bad as they had feared it would be! One visitor enjoyed it so much that, after several samples, he claimed to be off home to make some. If you were that visitor, we’d love to hear how it turned out!

We served the pease pottage on a traditional medieval trencher – basically a plate made of bread – in rather non medieval style mini-trenchers. Perhaps it will catch on and pease pottage vol-au-vents will be sweeping the nation by Christmas.

Of course, our usual delicious homemade cakes were available in the tea room for anyone who was not enamoured of the idea of pottage!

We also had an insight into the fascinating rules of Tudor table manners. Our volunteers set this up as a game, a taste of which is below.

Setting the Tudor table

What would be on the table?

A few comments from the visitors book illustrate the enthusiasm with which the day was received:

“So interesting and inspiring. Wonderful volunteers, wonderful cake!”
“Very well done especially the pease pudding and the strawberry chocolate
cake. An unexpected gem.”
“Very interesting. Have wondered about these buildings for years. Great to
hear some fascinating facts.”

It was very heartening to see that the rain did not stop play with other great events across Coventry, including a Wellbeing event at the Herbert, including the Weavers’ Workshop, and Positive Images Festival. Heritage and culture fans seems to be a hardy bunch!

Weavers’ Workshop display

Creations by the Workshop members

Our next Open Day is in July when we’ll have all the usual tours and refreshments, and we’ll have some added archaeological interest thanks to CADAS (Coventry and District Archaeological Society). Do join us on Sunday 21 July from 11am until 4pm.

June 18, 2019
In the bleak midwinter…

It’s certainly been cold today. Christmas seems a distant memory and summer a long way off. Yet the mornings are starting to feel a little bit brighter a little bit earlier, and a close look will reveal green signs of life outside.

At The Weaver’s House, we’ve been planning our season of Open Days for this year, and you can find the full list of dates here.

First up to look forward to, we have Signs of Spring on Saturday 13 April, from 11am until 4pm.

This will be our first Open Day of the year with some springtime fun. Find out how you can use natural dyes to colour eggs for Easter, follow a trail and explore the house and garden. As usual, admission is free and tea, coffee and homemade cakes will be available.

If you’re looking for something to occupy you during the rest of the wintry weeks ahead, why not give weaving a go? The Weavers’ Workshop group aims to promote the craft of weaving, its use as a creative medium and its place in Coventry’s history. They have open drop-in sessions to try out weaving techniques here at The Weaver’s House each Monday and Thursday from 10am until 12.30pm. There is a small charge, tea and coffee is provided, and everyone is welcome.

January 21, 2019
2018 was an action-packed year at The Weaver’s House

2018 saw a bumper number of events at The Weaver’s House. Alongside our usual Open Days, there were not one, but two weekends open for Heritage Open Days plus exhibitions and special events. The year started in fine form with a sunny April Open Day and continued into May with a site-wide celebration of medieval crafts, with visitors able to experience traditional skills and talk to craftspeople about their process.

June brought a wealth of opportunities to see the house. Alongside the usual Open Day, the house opened for the annual Warwickshire Open Studios and Coventry Arts Trail with a display of The Weavers’ Workshop projects. Also part of Warwickshire Open Studios, the house hosted the War & Pieced Patchwork Exhibition, a collection of thought-provoking military and civilian patchwork quilts collected and restored by Jane and Peterson Cobbett. Visitors to the exhibition sat in the garden enjoying a gloriously sunny day, with little realisation that the beautiful weather was to signal the start of an unforgettably sunshine-filled summer.

The sun stayed through July’s day of Tudor-styled fun featuring games both familiar (such as quoits) and less recognisable (Nine Men’s Morris) and into August’s Family History Day. This themed day celebrated the lives of people who had lived in Black Swan Terrace, the group of cottages that The Weaver’s House is part of. We were delighted to welcome families of former residents of all five houses, and visitors were even able to research their own family history.

Photos of past residents of the terrace were on display

Guests Chris and Ella from Coventry Family History Society

September saw Spon Spun return with participation by The Weaver’s House on the Arts Trail. Plus two sets of Heritage Open Days, a first for the festival itself and a sure indication that interest in the past has a good future!

Another first was our special Halloween Open Day in the October half term. Volunteers transformed the house into a spooky and entertaining setting for a day of crafts, treats and storytelling. Despite it being a cold day, much fun was had and visitors were able to warm up with mulled apple juice, hot chocolate and Halloween themed tasty treats. The Belgrade’s panto dame, Nanny McWheeze, popped in to learn a little about spinning wheels and spindles, in the hope of protecting Princess Belle from the curse of the wicked Carabosse! The day finished with a special storytelling session in the house itself, with storyteller Pyn Stockman enchanting both children and adults with the tale of Vasilisa the Brave.

Woven poppies

Sgt. Edis

Reflecting on the past

Visitors examine the artefacts brought in by Brian

In November there was a special event to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armistice for which The Weaver’s House was awarded two There But Not There silhouettes funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust. These silhouettes were in remembrance of former residents, the two O’Neil boys posted to France during WWI and who did not return. One of the volunteers, Clare, is a descendant of the O’ Neils, and she put together a special talk including the war story of the family, which was completely fully booked. Visitors helped to create a memory board and the house was decorated with woven poppies created by The Weavers’ Workshop. The volunteers were joined by Sergeant Phil Edis of Coventry R.E.M.E. (Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers) to represent the Armed Forces in our community today.

The finale of the year was another new venture for The Weaver’s House, as a venue for craft workshops. What a busy year!

If you would like to find out more about any of the events from the past year, have a browse through our blog. Open Days at The Weaver’s House will recommence in the springtime, and details are here.

December 29, 2018
There But Not There

And so, November draws to a close, a month that has been filled with reflection and remembrance, one hundred years after the Armistice of 1918.

At The Weaver’s House, we marked the centenary with a special event of particular relevance to the house. During the First World War, the O’Neil family were residents in the house. Three of the O’Neil boys went away to war, and only one returned.

For this special event on November 3, The Weaver’s House was awarded two There But Not There silhouettes funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust. The silhouettes represent people lost to conflict. Our silhouettes were placed in the house itself, where the O’Neil boys lived one hundred years ago.

Descendants of the O’Neils: Clare Chamberlain, Paul Nolan, Debra Morris and Eve Morris.

Poster for The Window

A display of WW1 objects

There But Not There

One of our regular volunteers, Clare, is a descendant of the O’ Neils and as part of the day she presented a free family history talk including their war story. We were also pleased to welcome Coventry-based actor and playwright, Paul Nolan, another descendant of the O’Neils. Paul’s play The Window tells the WWI story of the O’Neils and has been on tour this year, you can find out more here.

Sergeant Phil Edis of Coventry R.E.M.E. (Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers) was in attendance to represent the role of the Armed Forces in our community today, and we thank him for spending time with us and our visitors on the day.

The memory board

During the open day, we had a memory board which we invited visitors to add to, in remembrance of family members lost to war. We also had a collection of First World War artefacts brought in by volunteer Brian, and another display of objects collected by Clare.

Visitors examine the artefacts brought in by Brian

First World War binoculars and cigarette cards

Shell casing, bamboo cask and clipping

First World War badges and cigarette cards

The Weavers’ Workshop, who meet at the house every week, had added a special and fitting touch with woven poppies which accompanied the There But Not There silhouettes.

Woven poppies

Reflecting on the past

Thanks to all who took part in the day, whether volunteers, visitors or other contributors, and of course to the Armed Forces Covenant Trust for awarding us the grant for the silhouettes.

November 28, 2018
A look back at the busy month of June

The garden at The Weaver’s House had certainly burst into life and was looking stunning. What a difference a few weeks made, with the early May Open Day showing patches of green and tentative buds, fully blossoming into life for June. Visitors joined us from Coventry, Sheffield, Taunton, Rugby, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Northampton, Warwick, Kenilworth and Birmingham.

Moving further into the month, The Weavers’ Workshop took part in Warwickshire Open Studios – Coventry Arts Trail across two weeks in June with open sessions from 10am – 12pm on the Mondays and Thursdays. Visitors were able to take part in make and take activities and weaving and admire a display of projects.

This year’s public weave is underway with a warp which has been woad-dyed in the Japanese Ikat style. This means there will be variations in colour along the warp using resist dyeing methods, which should give some kind of geometric pattern in the weave. It’s all very experimental so it’s been a steep learning curve and the result is likely to be random variations in colour akin, perhaps, to a river flowing. It will be a piece very different to our public weaving last year. The weaving has been part of theCoventry Arts Trail offer, giving visitors the chance to have a go at loom weaving and as last year, is proving very popular.

Also part of Warwickshire Open Studios, was Jane Cobbett’s special patchwork exhibition War & Pieced. An array of beautiful and intriguing pieces was on display throughout the house and garden. There was also a display of projects inspired by the theme, with the opportunity for visitors to vote for their favourite. Lots and lots of visitors stopped by despite (or because?) of clashing with the World Cup including an England game!

There will be another chance to see some of the quilts at The Textile History Group’s Celebration of Crafts on Saturday 10 November, 10.30am to 3.30pm. Taking place at St Barbara’s Church in Earlsdon, there will be crafts for sale and a pop-up tea shop – sounds perfect! More details are here.

Out next Open Day is on Sunday 22 July and sees the return of the very popular Tudor Games Day.

July 5, 2018
News: What’s on until the end of June

Coventry Arts Trail/Warwickshire Open Studios at The Weaver’s House

To keep things simple here’s a brief overview of what’s happening for the rest of June 2018:

The Weavers’ Workshop will be offering drop in sessions as part of the Coventry Arts Trail (itself part of Warwickshire Open Studios) on Thursday 21, Monday 25 and Thursday 28 June from 10am until midday. Try a simple make and take activity, see the members current weaving projects and have a look around the house and garden. There are many more local artists opening homes and studios as part of the trail, so do make sure you find out more.

Also part of Warwickshire Open Studios, the War & Pieced Patchwork Exhibition takes place on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 June from 11am until 4pm at The Weaver’s House. This is an exhibition of thought-provoking military and civilian patchwork quilts and their social history, from the Mid Victorian period to the 1980s, collected and restored by Jane and Peterson Cobbett.

Warwickshire Open Studios runs at venues across the region,with an incredible 270 artists taking part in 138 venues across Coventry and Warwickshire. To find out more, visit the website and have a good look around!

June 18, 2018
June brings tulips, lilies, roses… and a lot going on!

It’s looking very busy here at The Weaver’s House this June! It all starts this Saturday, 16 June, with a free Open Day starting at 11am. Pop in and discover our story which began in medieval times. Enjoy tea and cake in our garden, find out about the history of weaving and talk to our knowledgeable guides. We’re open until 4, but we recommend arriving by 3.30pm at the latest for a look round. This Saturday is also a chance to enjoy some other events that are practically on our doorstep, so make a day of it and enjoy some different aspects of Coventry’s history. This year’s Civic Day celebrates post-war architecture (taking place at the Priory Visitor Centre) it’s Open Day at Charterhouse, start of Positive Images and the absolutely last chance to see the CET Building in use as a pop-up exhibition space. Yes, that’s all this Saturday!

Further into June, we are delighted to be taking part in the annual Warwickshire Open Studios. Our regular resident crafters The Weavers’ Workshop will be offering drop in sessions as part of the Coventry Arts Trail on Monday 18, Thursday 21, Monday 25 and Thursday 28 June from 10am until midday. Try a simple make and take activity, see the members current weaving projects and have a look around the house and garden.

Pendant by Debbie

Also part of Warwickshire Open Studios, the War & Pieced Patchwork Exhibition takes place on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 June 2018 from 11am until 4pm at The Weaver’s House. This is an exhibition of thought-provoking military and civilian patchwork quilts and their social history, from the Mid Victorian period to the 1980s, collected and restored by Jane and Peterson Cobbett.

Jane Cobbett at our Heritage Crafts Day

So, a busy month here, and by the time those events are done it will have also been midsummer and half way through the year! There’s still plenty more to come with our next Open Day celebrating the fun of Tudor Games and our August Open Day exploring the family history of the house and terrace.

June 12, 2018
The all new Coventry Blue

We had a fantastic Heritage Open Days weekend with lots of visitors. People were not put off by the rain and enjoyed visiting us and our neighbours including St John’s Church, Coventry Watch Museum, CET Building and Priory Visitor Centre. So much heritage to enjoy and that’s just those within a short walk — there were over 50 places to visit in Coventry during the festival.

HODs saw our final Open Days this year. If you’ve been along to one of our Open Days at The Weaver’s House, or have been following us online, you will have spotted our 10 year anniversary weaving project, to create a new version of the famous ‘Coventry Blue’ woven cloth.

Throughout this year, visitors to The Weaver’s House have contributed to this hands-on weaving project, run by the Weavers’ Workshop. Finally, during Heritage Open Days, the cloth that was woven by so many people during this year was cut from the loom.

As the cloth unfurled, it was the very first opportunity for anybody to see how it turned out!

Scissors ready!

Prepping the cloth

Here it comes…

It was cut free of the loom by Margaret, one of the lead weavers on the project who revealed the completed cloth to be approximately five metres in length.

Action… and – cut!

Visitors help to unfurl the woven cloth

Coventry Blue then took second prize on the Spon Spun Art Trail, even though it wasn’t on the official voting list! It is currently displayed as part of the City Arcadia exhibition until 30 September. The opening times are Tuesday – Friday 12 – 4pm and Saturday 10am – 1pm.

You can see a bit more about the Art Trail here, and also on the Weavers’ Workshop blog.

September 22, 2017
Our ‘Coventry Blue’ will be revealed during Heritage Open Days
If you’ve been along to one of our Open Days this year, or follow us online, you will have spotted our 10 year anniversary weaving project, to create a new version of the famous ‘Coventry Blue’ woven cloth.

Throughout this year, visitors to The Weaver’s House have contributed to this hands-on weaving project, run by the Weavers’ Workshop. We’re excited that the cloth that has been woven by many people during this year will be cut from the loom at 11am on Sunday 10 September during Heritage Open Days. As we unfurl the cloth, it will be the very first opportunity to see how it turned out – so if you’ve had a go, pop along and see the completed cloth that you have been part of!

The weaving on the loom

Sara from the Weavers’ Workshop explained the background to the project:

“In medieval times, when the house was built, Coventry was a centre for the weaving trade and the city was best known for its fine blue cloth, “Coventry Blue”. Our project used Coventry Blue as a starting point and was intended to give visitors an opportunity to see the magic of the woad dyeing process and have a go at ‘hands on’ loom weaving, to see for themselves what weaving entails.”

The dye pot

Freshly dyed wool

The table loom

“We began with woad dyeing the wool on the first Weaver’s House Open Day of the year. The wool was then put on a warping mill to create the correct lengths of yarn needed to warp up a portable table loom, all this before cloth weaving could start. The Weavers’ Workshop wonder whether this is the first sample of “Coventry Blue” cloth woven in the city in 450 years. As no one really knows what the original Coventry Blue looked like or the processes involved in its making, it’s our very own 21st century interpretation!”

The loom has also been out and about at events including the Lunt Roman Festival to give even more people an opportunity to weave a little bit of The Weaver’s House history. After the cutting ceremony, the piece of cloth will be displayed at the house as part of the Spon Spun Art Trail which runs from 12 – 4pm on Sunday 10 September. There will be further opportunities to see the cloth in the future.

Five facts about the famous historical ‘Coventry Blue’:
- The fine blue cloth was dyed and woven in Coventry and exported to the continent.
- The blue colour was derived from woad, an unpromising looking green plant related to the cabbage family. Woad is a vat dye and requires a complex chemical process to create the conditions in which cloth can be dyed blue.
- No one knows what colour the historical Coventry Blue looked like as no samples have ever been identified or dye recipe discovered.
- The woad dye was imported from the south of France as the sunny climate ensured a higher concentration of blue dyestuff in the plant.
- Coventry Blue cloth was highly sought after due to the non-fading quality of its blue colour and is believed to be the basis of the phrase True as Coventry Blue or True Blue meaning steadfastness.
The completion of the weaving project rounds off a highly successful year for us – we’ve had large numbers of visitors enjoying our Open Days season including memorable days celebrating Easter, May Day and our 10th anniversary – but it’s not over yet!

For the first time ever, we’ll be open on the Friday of Heritage Open Days with a ‘Reduced’ Open Day on 8 September (there’s no refreshments or demonstrations, but a great opportunity to have a quieter look around the house and talk to guides).

Then we have Open Days on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 September with refreshments supplied by The Heritage Pantry (formerly The Heritage Cake Company) alongside spinning and weaving. Please note that the solar (upstairs room containing the loom) will not be open for Heritage Open Days.

Opening times are 10am – 4pm. Admission is free and no booking is necessary. These are our last Open Days this year, so we hope to see you there!

Have you tried making Coventry Blue cloth? Get in touch!

Read more about Coventry Blue and woad dyeing.

Main pic: Ingrid from Weavers’ Workshop
August 31, 2017
July is all festivals and fun at The Weaver’s House

July has been non-stop at The Weaver’s House! The month kicked off with a gardening day as plenty of sun and a dash of rain plus care and attention has resulted in the garden looking lovely. The following weekend it was both our Reduced Open Day and the Godiva Festival. The Reduced Open Day had fewer visitors than usual, but as it was quieter, there was an opportunity for in-depth discussion on the tour.

Meanwhile at the Godiva Festival, the volunteers from The Weaver’s House and Weavers’ Workshop had set up in the Lives and Times tent. They took the pop-up loom, plenty of leaflets and tons of enthusiasm! Over the weekend they continued with the weaving project on the pop-up loom, and spread the word on our little medieval gem. It was heartening to hear how many people coming through the tent had already visited the house and were planning to return.

Half way through July, then, and still plenty going on – this time it was the Lunt Roman Festival. Taking place at the partially-reconstructed timber fort in Baginton, and with costumed stallholders and guides all around, it was like stepping back into 60 A.D. The pop-up loom made another appearance for people to join in with weaving a piece of ‘Coventry Blue’.

A snail made on weaving sticks by a young visitor

July is due to go out on high with our special Open Day on the 29th to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the restoration and opening to the public of The Weaver’s House and its garden. What a month!

Don’t forget the house is FREE to visit. Drop by, have a look inside the restored medieval house, join in with the Coventry Blue project or just enjoy tea and cake in the pleasant surroundings of our garden.

July 18, 2017