Cash's who produce name tapes are the last surviving company from the Coventry silk ribbon weaving industry. The ribbons made here in Coventry were elaborate, beautiful and often wide ribbons - the sort which would have been used as sashes. The Herbert Art gallery and museum in Coventry has been undergoing building work and development, but prior to this there was clothing on display and a major section related to the ribbon making industry. I would imagine something will be on display when everything is completed - and if there is as much as there was previously, it will be well worth the visit. It is possible to see a picture of a sample of one the ribbons at http://www.theherbert.org/collections/history.htm
Some of the factory buildings the industry was housed in in Coventry have been converted into apartments. Coventry also was the home to a particular dye called Coventry blue and a watchmaking industry. Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire were home to framework knitters. Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire later had a spinning industry too - influenced by the availability first of running water and later coal. Nottingham and to a certain extent, nearby Mansfield had a belaching and dying industry too. Karen Butler Coventry England, whose ancestors include framework knitters, bleachers and dyers and spinners - but no lacemakers as yet. Tamworth, (South Staffordshire) and Coventry both had mills weaving narrow tapes - Coventry, as far as I know, still produces the famous Cash's Name Tapes. - -- Jane Partridge - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
