History of the Oxford Guild – part two

OXFORD GUILD OF WEAVERS, SPINNERS & DYERS:
1971 to 1979

The Phoenix arises

In one of her annual reports Kathleen Potter, the then Secretary, points out how fortunate the Guild was in having ‘many people from overseas joining the Guild for a year or so’. ^[a]This is still so, and it is due, for the most part, to Oxford being a University City and a medical centre with a constantly changing population. The presence of the University was probably instrumental in bringing together many of the people who established the Oxford Guild of Handloom Weavers [OGHLW] and certainly had a part to play in its rebirth as the Oxford Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers.

By 1971 members of the old guild were considering re-forming it and they were joined by other, recently arrived, textile crafts people. Prominent among these was Patricia Baines who moved from Cheltenham to Oxford in about 1969 when Anthony joined the University Music Faculty. Patricia was already a member of the London Guild and was becoming well known in weaving and spinning circles.

Much informal discussion between Patricia, Phyl Wager and others took place and, on the 25th of October 1971, Patricia wrote on behalf of the group to the Chairman of the Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers [AGWSD], Mrs Marjorie Williams, asking how best to re-start the Guild. As a result of this correspondence a meeting was held on Monday 29th November 1971 at her home, in St Margaret’s Road to consider what to do. The meeting was attended by some eighteen people, fifteen of whom agreed to join a new guild.

The meeting elected the following officers: Mrs K Lower, Chairman; Mrs J Archer, Vice-chairman; Mrs P Baines, Secretary; Mrs P Wager, Treasurer; and Mrs Maitland, Assistant Treasurer and Mrs P Marshall as Committee Members. It also agreed to a constitution which was an up-dating of that of the OGHLW, to change the name to the Oxford Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers [OGWSD], to an annual subscription of £1.50 and to hold at least six meetings a year. ^[b] It was also agreed to join the National Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers. It was subsequently found that this was unnecessary as the previous Guild’s membership was still valid. Patricia tried to get back the funds which had passed to the Association. It is not known if she was successful.

The first formal meeting of the Guild was on 24th January 1972, again at 23 St Margaret’s Road, when the name, committee, constitution and subscription were agreed. Participation in the AGWSD May exhibition at Bath and a Guild outing to it was agreed and the possibility of a local exhibition of member’s work was discussed. This was followed by two short talks on Ancient Weaving Equipment from Denmark by Mrs D Jones and Weaving Equipment from Crete by Mrs P Baines.^[c]

The Guild had some twenty four members in its first year. Eight of these had been members of the OGHLW of whom five were founder members. ^{[see Appendix One]} …….The Guild was already up-and-running at its first meeting.

By the middle of the year it was sufficiently established to merit a write-up in the Oxford Times of 2nd June.

Activities: meetings

…….And so the Guild settled down into the pattern of activities which, with minor variations, has served it well for the next thirty or so years.

At first it was decided to hold six meetings a year with a long vacation in the summer. This reflected the fact that a large number of members were attached to the University. Some of the meetings were talks or demonstrations presented by members but most were talks by well known textile practitioners or by suppliers. By 1977 the Guild had expanded, not only in membership but also in ambition and it was thought that meetings should be held every month except in the middle of the summer. ^{[those for 1972 to 1979 are listed, where known, in Appendix Four]}

To give a taste of things, here are a few examples:

13th March 1972: Mrs Marjorie Williams, Chairman of the Association, on Two-shaft Loom Weaving
18th November 1972: Mr Victor Edwards on Harris Looms
27th January 1973: Lotte Kuemmel on Tablet Weaving
17th November 1973: Mrs Margaret Beale, Chairman of the London Guild, on vegetable dyeing
18th May 1974: Roger Oates, on his work
13th November 1976: Theo Moorman on Weaving Wall Hangings
22nd January 1977: Janet Phillips on Pattern Drafting
19th February 1977: Patricia Baines on Spinning
15th October 1977: Hilary Chetwynd on Design and Colour
21st October 1978: Tim Searcey on From Painting to Weaving
17th and 18th March 1979: David Hill, talk and dyeing day on Woad and Madder
10th November 1979 Geraldine St Aubyn Hubbard discussing Weaving

Most summers there was an ‘open–air’ meeting in a member’s garden. In 1974 it was in Mrs Babington-Smith’s at Yelford Manor. On 14th June 1975 the guild held an interesting and enjoyable time in Patricia Baines’ house and garden where members engaged in a ‘Primitive Day’. The activities included spindle spinning, back-strap loom weaving in the garden and dyeing in the kitchen. The primitive day was repeated in 1977 at Yelford Manor and members of nearby Guilds were invited.

‘Spinning Bees’ [‘for want of a better expression’ ] were set up in 1973 but by 1975 had died through lack of support. They were re-established by Sheila Mattock in 1978 and have persisted ever since. Tapestry groups were also set up and these too are still meeting.

For several summers the Guild had a holiday competition. The first in 1972 was for two small woven mats and the second in 1973 for a tie or belt. It also held a Christmas competition for woven Christmas Cards in 1976.

Activities: workshops

In this period several large workshops were organised. These usually took place in some educational institution.

On 20th May 1978 a ‘Beginner’s Day for Weavers’ was held at Westminster College and there was a weaving weekend ‘Qualities of Cloth’ on 30th September and 1st October 1978, tutored by Geraldine St Aubyn Hubbard. This was also held at Westminster College which did not charge for the use of the facilities. Geraldine’s fee was £50 plus £20 travelling expenses. The Committee minutes say ‘It was greatly enjoyed by all who attended’.

Activities: exhibitions and demonstrations

The Guild soon became involved in public activities. Its members contributed to exhibitions organized by nearby Guilds and by the AGWSD, provided stalls and demonstrated at local shows and produced its own exhibitions in Oxford.

The first public appearance was at the Oxfordshire County Show at Kidlington Airport on 28th and 29th April 1972 when members displayed their weaving, some of which was for sale, and demonstrated spinning and inkle loom weaving. This was repeated the following year on 2nd and 3rd August when dyeing was added to the demonstrations.

Once it became known the Guild was frequently asked to demonstrate at shows and similar events. The April newsletter of 1975 shows that the show organisers were charged for the privilege and it was a useful source of income.

As early as May 1972, three members had work selected for display at the AGWSD Exhibition at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath. Lotte Kuemmel produced an unbleached cotton dress, Phyl Wager a knotted fleece rug in natural fleece colours on a flax warp and Patricia Baines a length of coat fabric made from grey and black Welsh mountain breeds with slubs of Oxford Down. ^[d] The Guild’s first outing was a coach trip to Bath on 20th May to visit the exhibition.

The first Exhibition organized by the Guild was held from 19th to 31st May 1973 in the Information Centre, St Aldates, Oxford. It was opened by the Lord Mayor, Alderman Conners. Members’ work was displayed, together with samples of vegetable dyeing and spun samples of different wools. Demonstrations of weaving and spinning were held each morning and afternoon.

Jessie Archer: Oxford Mail 21st March 1973

OGWSD Exhibition, Information Centre, St Aldates, Oxford 1973

The Oxford Mail of the 21st March printed a short piece with a large photograph of Jessie Archer demonstrating spinning to The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress.

In 1974 the National Exhibition of the AGWSD, ‘Handwoven Furnishings’ was held in the Oxfordshire County Museum at Woodstock from 8th April until 16th June. The Oxford Guild volunteered to run it so the greater part of the work of organising it fell upon the Oxford Guild and, from the correspondence, seems to have been mainly undertaken by Patricia Baines and Phyl Wager. In the Journal Guild report of Winter 1975 the secretary writes: ‘A great deal of hard work was put into this and many members gave generously of their time, not only with the behind-the-scenes work, but also with demonstrations and stewarding, an unexpected extra element’.

Patricia Baines wrote a description of ‘How the Exhibition was Organised’ in the Summer issue of the Journal of AGWSD. Phyl Wager was not only chairman but also looked after the finances. The local committee of six was helped by some nine members of the Association with Miss Theo Moorman, Mrs Gwen Mullins and Miss Morfudd Roberts selecting work and Miss Constance Towers and Miss Hetty Wickens helping with the display.

An extensive write-up by Hillary Chetwynd was published in the Summer issue [90] of the Journal of AGWSD. ‘The first impression when entering the exhibition was that there was an interesting and varied selection of works on show and that a great deal of trouble had been taken in displaying the textiles to their best advantage’. Patricia Baines gets particular mention. Her work ‘had quality and was eminently suitable for the purpose’.

As part of the Exhibition a buffet lunch was held at Woodstock Town Hall open to all National members. One hundred and ten people attended.

This Exhibition also had a good effect upon recruitment. Janet Phillips writes: ‘I joined the Oxford Guild in the summer of 1974 after visiting the Association exhibition in Woodstock………I can still remember walking up the stairs to the first floor and seeing a brilliantly coloured floor rug hanging on the wall. The whole exhibition was an eclectic collection of innovative and exciting textiles. Kathleen Potter greeted me, and then very soon signed me up.’^[f]

In February 1976, the Arts Centre recently established in the Old Fire Station, in George Street started regular craft markets. The Guild participated in these. The write-up in Oxford Times of 5th March includes a large photograph of Kathleen Potter spinning and Janet Phillips weaving.

The Guild’s second exhibition was held in Oxford City Museum, St Aldates, Oxford from 3rd to 10th December 1977. The schedule for this exists and shows a predominance of domestic furnishings and items of clothing together with some wall hangings. The Oxford Times of 9th December printed a short note on this. At this time Patricia Baines book ‘Spinning Wheels, Spinners and Spinning’ was published and was reviewed by Helen Turner in the same issue. Patricia’s book was judged to be the outstanding craft book of the year by the Crafts Advisory Council and reviewed by Peter Collingwood in the Spring issue of the Journal of AGWSD.

The Committee minutes for January 1978 show that the Exhibition was a success, half of the members having exhibited. However it was felt that the entrance fee of 20p had discouraged visitors and museum staff were unhelpful. It was resolved not to use the Museum again.

Another, pre-Christmas, Exhibition and Sale was staged in the new City Library in the Exhibition Room, Westgate Centre from 20th November to 1st December 1979. This was in a spacious well lit room which gave ample room for the proper display of exhibits. It was well reviewed in the Spring 1980 Journal of AGWSD by Marjorie Williams who ‘was impressed by the quality and variety of the display’. A feature of the exhibition was several large floor rugs, those made by Eva Exley got special mention in the review. The exhibition also included a display of woven articles made by Oxfordshire school children.

Activities: outings

The guild’s first outing was to the AGWSD Exhibition at Bath on 20th May 1972. In 1973 members went to Snows Hill Manor, particularly to see the spinning and weaving equi

pment there and to Kelmscott Manor to see the William Morris works. Not all trips were successful, very few people went to Waddesdon Manor in 1975.

A most interesting day was spent on 19th June 1976 at Warburg Nature Reserve where Nigel Phillips pointed out good dye plants and Janet demonstrated her Dobby Loom. This was repeated in 1979.

Following up her talk, one of the high lights of 1977 was a visit Theo Moorman’s workshop in Painswick which some fifteen members attended.

Two visits were planned for 1978, on the 3rd June to Wilton House and Hilary Chetwynd’s workshop and to Pearces of Thame, woolstaplers on 12th July. The first was cancelled due to lack of support.

Meeting Locations

The first few meetings were held in member’s houses. Patricia Baines home in St Margaret’s Road and Phyl Wager’s in Benson Place seem to have been most used. In November 1973 a permanent location for meetings was found: the Old Bake House, South Parade.

When the Old Fire Station Arts Centre, Gloucester Green, Oxford was opened in 1974 one or two meetings were held there. In 1975 the Guild hired Room 34 for about year where it housed equipment ^[e] for members to use and where workshops could be held. A small extra fee of 10p a session was charged for this. The ‘Room Warming’ was on 1st October. The hire of the room proved to be a great strain on finances, particularly when the rent was doubled, and the experiment was abandoned. The equipment was then hired out.

From September 1978, the Women’s Institute Hall in Middle Way was used. It cost £6.00 for three hours [2.00 to 5.00pm]. The use of the kitchen was an extra £1.25. The hall continued to be the location of the Guild’s monthly meetings until the WI decided to move its headquarters. After much debate, it was decided to use Stanton St John Village Hall from January 1998.

Keeping in Touch and Informed

At first members were informed of the Guild’s activities by letter from the secretary. Over time, these became longer and more detailed, but it was not until 1988 that the format changed to the A5 booklet which is still produced. Copies of about twenty of these early productions are known to still exist and there seem to have been four issued each year.

In 1978 it was decided to print a programme card but since meetings were not finalised all that much in advance it should cover a six months period only. It was also decided to have a ‘Sales Table’ at each meeting where members could dispose of surplus equipment and materials, 10% of the selling price going to Guild funds.

The Guild library was started in 1973 when Mrs Peetz gave it all her weaving books. Mrs Pat Marshall was the first librarian.

The Nineteen Seventies were a very eventful time for the Guild and set the framework for succeeding years.

David Nutt
June 2007

OGWSD Exhibition: Exhibition Room, City Library, Westgate, Oxford 1979

Acknowledgements: I must thank Phyl Wager for providing copies of the early Newsletters and other papers, for providing insights into what really went on and for putting me on the right lines. Thanks are due also to Ann Nutt for helping to extract much of the detail from the various papers which survive.

The illustrations have been acknowledged where the source or photographer is known.

Notes and Sources

Notes of meetings dry up after 1977 and information on them has been gleaned from Committee Minutes. It is not always clear that the event took place.

1. Reports in the Journal of AGWSD
2. Minutes of the meeting: 29th November 1971
3. Minutes of the meeting: 24th January 1972
4. Entry Form
5. The August 1975 newsletter says ‘it will be equipped with a table loom, an inkle loom, a small tapestry loom, a warping mill, a bobbin winder and, we hope, a sample loom.’
6. Note from Janet Phillips on the early days of the Guild. See Appendix Three for full text.

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Appendix One
Members

1971/72

Mrs J Archer * – Vice Chairman
Mrs M E Parker *
Mrs L Kuemmel **
Mrs Maitland – Assist. Treasurer
Mr and Mrs Alastair McCann
Mrs K Lower – Chairman
Mrs I Jones
Mrs P Marshall – Committee
Mrs J Cope
Mrs E M Peetz *
Mrs K Haywood *
Miss G Beesley **
Mrs P Wager * – Treasurer
Mrs E Thorpe
Mrs D Jones **
Mrs P Baines – Secretary
Mrs Williams
Mrs Baker
Mrs Joan Gauthier
Mrs Fowler
Mrs Chow
Miss E Sursham
Mrs Eleanor Grennan
Miss Joanna McKasky

* founder members of the Oxford Guild of Handloom Weavers
** members of the OGHLW

Appendix Two
Committee Members

The Committee seems to have been elected in the October of the previous year. There are no definitive records of Committee members for any year after 1974. This list has been compiled from the lists of those present and nominations as set out in Committee minutes.

1971/72

Mrs K Lower – Chairman
Mrs J Archer Vice – Chairman
Mrs P Baines – Secretary
Mrs Wager – Treasurer
Mrs Maitland – Assist. Treasurer

1973 and 1974

as 1971/2 plus
Mrs Marshall

1975

Mrs Babington-Smith – Chairman
Mrs P Baines – Vice Chairman
Miss G Beesley – Treasurer
Mrs K Potter – Secretary
Mrs Fowler
Mrs Marshall – Assist Secretary

1976

Mrs Babington-Smith
Mrs P Baines
Mrs K Potter
Mrs Marshall
Miss G Beesley
Mrs J Phillips
Mrs Tucker

1977

Phyl Wager – Chairman
Kathleen Potter – Vice Chairman
Jenny Forder – Secretary
?Miss G Beesley – Treasurer
plus?

1978

Phyl Wager – Chairman
Kathleen Potter – Vice Chairman
Jenny Forder – Secretary
Eileen Gladstone – Treasurer
Mary Tucker?
Janet Phillips
Felicity Harrison

1979

Phyl Wager – Chairman
Kathleen Potter – Vice Chairman
Jenny Forder – Secretary
G Beesley – ?Treasurer
Sheila Mattock

Appendix Three
A note from Janet Phillips

‘My early memories of the Oxford Guild

I joined the Oxford Guild in the summer of 1974, after visiting the Association exhibition in Woodstock that the Oxford Guild was hosting. I can still remember walking up the stairs to the first floor and seeing a brilliantly coloured floor rug hanging on the wall. The whole exhibition was an eclectic collection of innovative and exciting textiles. Kathleen Potter greeted me, and then very soon signed me up.

The meetings were held in The Old Bake House, South Parade, Summertown. As I walked into the first meeting I met my old needlework teacher from my Edinburgh school. The Guild was very small at the time, perhaps with only about 20 members attending meetings.

I was very soon elected on to the committee, and attending meetings at Kathleen Potters home in Park Town. Soon after that I was elected to the GPC of the Association and attended meeting [s] chaired by Tim Searcy in Covent Garden. All the AGM’s were held in London.

The meetings soon moved to the WI Hall in Middle Way around the corner form the Bake House. I attended meetings regularly until around 1980, when my first child was born, and have been a very, very lay member since.

Am I possibly currently the longest signed up member of the Guild?

Janet Phillips’

[Phyl Wager is the longest signed up member, being founder member of OGHLW and OGWSD. DN]

Appendix Four
Activities 1971 to 1979

This information has been taken, for the most part, from a list of Guild Meetings prepared each year from 1972 to 1977 plus information from Committee minutes and Newsletters from 1977 to 1979. It could be that some of the latter events did not take place.

1971

29th November 1971: Restart Meeting

1972

24th January: First Formal Meeting with talk by D Jones on Danish weaving equipment and P Baines on Equipment from Crete
13th March: Mrs Marjorie Williams, Chairman of the Association, on Two-shaft Loom Weaving
24th April: P Baines on Ilkley Summer School
28th & 29th April: exhibition and demonstrations at Oxfordshire County Show
20th May: visit to AGWSD Exhibition, Bath
5th June: K Plough on Wall Hangings at Edinburgh etc
3rd July: talk cancelled
16th October: AGM and competition
18th November: Mr Victor Edwards on Harris Looms

1973

27th January: L Kuemmel on Tablet Weaving
5th March: P Wager on Courses and P Baines on Weaving and Spinning in Crete, Cyprus and the Pelopennes
19th to 31st March: Exhibition in Information Centre, Oxford
14th May: R Patterson on Cloth of York
2nd June: outing to Snows Hill Manor and Kelmscott Manor
18th June: Louise Todd on her work
3rd & 4th August: Sale and demonstrations at Oxon County Show
15th October: AGM and competition
17th November: M Beale on Vegetable Dyeing

1974

21st January: informal meeting
18th February: informal meeting
9th March: C Towers on Spinning
8thApril to 16th June: AGWSD Handwoven Furnishings Exhibition
4th May: Guilds Exhibition Day lunch at Woodstock
18th May 1974: Roger Oates, on his work
21st June: Summer Party at Yelford Manor
16th November: all-day meeting at Oxford Arts Centre

1975

1st February: L Keummel on Inlay Techniques
1st March: D Wilmshurst on Wool Sorting
24th May: B Mullins on Peru
14th June: Primitive Day at P Baines
18th October: AGM and ‘Bring and Buy’
25th October: outing to Waddesdon Manor
15th November: D K Wright on Spinning
13th December: Christmas Party in Old Fire Station

1976

17th January: Mrs Frazer on Weaving in New Zealand
7th February: Mr Ponting on Chemical Dyes
13th March: Bring your own Work at Old Fire Station
29th May: H Breed on Ikat
19th June: outing to Warburg Nature Reserve dye plants and Dobby loom
16th October: AGM next year’s exhibition discussion
13th November: Theo Moorman on Weaving Wall Hangings
11th December: Party and discussion on Exhibition

1977

22nd January: Janet Phillips on Pattern Drafting
19th February: P Baines on Spinning
2nd March: visit to Theo Moorman workshop, Painswick
23rd April: L Savie? on Weaving in Canada
21st May: Mrs Green on Weaving Braids
11th June: Open day at Yelford Manor
15th October: Hilary Chetwynd on Design and Colour
26th November: Election of Officers and preparation for exhibition
3rd to 10th December: Exhibition in Oxford Museum

1978

22nd April: Fay Morgan on Designing Cloth for Clothes
20th May: Beginners Day for Weavers at Westminster College
3rd June: Visit cancelled
10 June: June Fair at Oxpens
12th July: visit to Pearces of Thame Woolstaplers
15th September: J Williams on Finger Weaving
30th September and 1st October: weaving weekend Qualities in Cloth G St Aubyn Hubbard
?20th October: P Baines on Designing Wool Threads
?21st October: Tim Searcey on From Painting to Weaving

1979

17th February: Alex Pearson
17th and 18th March: David Hill, talk and dyeing day on Woad and Madder
31st March & 1st April: P Baines Spinning Course
7th April: E Gladstone on Have a go at Tablet Weaving
19th May: Slides
2nd June: June Fair
7th June: Spinning Bee at P Wager’s
23rd June: visit to Warburgh Nature Reserve
20th October: P Baines on Spinning and Plying Fancy Threads
10th November: G St Aubyn Hubbard discussing Weaving
20th November to 1st December: Exhibition in Westgate Library
8th December: Christmas Meeting E Gladstone on Batik

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With thanks to David Nutt for all his work compiling this information.