Bartimaeus

Yesterday we found another cafe for lunch in Macclesfield and then went in search of the Silk Museum.  The town has been famed for its silk products for centuries, even the museum is over a hundred years old.  We were still exploring and learning about silk weaving as closing time approached.

I spent the late afternoon installing a gadget I had brought back from Edinburgh.  When we were there in September, the television in our flat had started to warn us that we would lose access to some of its “smart” features, so I had ordered a small streaming box (other streaming gadgets are available) to fill the gap.  Last week, the same smart features on the television on Bartimaeus stopped working – without warning.  The television was bought when the boat was new, so it is just over five years old, but now no longer works as intended.  Fortunately the gadget works just as I had hoped, so we can continue to use television.  I’ve now ordered a second one for Edinburgh – a lot cheaper and greener than replacing the televisions.

The Museum was open again today, but would then be closed until after we leave town early next week.  We did a quick local shop at a very nice local bakery (other bakeries are available), dropped our purchases on the boat and then headed back to the Museum.  As we arrived, the tour of the nearby Paradise Mill was setting off.  The guide asked us if we were wanting to join, and said he’d wait while we went in for tickets.  After a short walk up the road and then up the stairs we were welcomed to Paradise!

The top floor of the mill has been preserved just as it had been when work had stopped.  Our extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide led us through the process of making material for a silk tie. 

The machinery in this large attic room was all second-hand when it was installed early in the twentieth century.  Like the floor, it looks pretty rickety but still does the job amazingly well.

The card punching machine was the odd one out as it was predominantly made of metal rather than wood.  The pattern has to be transferred from the design to a sequence of cards.  Holes in the cards are punched in groups of eight – one selection for each finger – and then stamped with a pedal.  The plentiful supply of chads were used as confetti.

Our guide operated one of the looms for us.  I recognised the actions I had seen in films yesterday afternoon, but now got an explanation of what each action was doing and could see the shuttle sliding across the shed pulling a thread behind it.  The steps required to operate the loom are simple and very repetitive.  Automated powered looms were made, but the quality was never quite as good.  An expert hand weaver could make small adjustments to the pressure applied at important stages in the process.

It is amazing that these human-powered machines, which were second-hand a hundred years ago, are still able to operate as they were originally intended.

Back on Bartimaeus we lunched on our haul from the bakery and then set off.  We have been moored at a “3 day” mooring for 3 days, but more significantly there has been hardly any sunshine for battery charging all that time.  We drove as far as a winding hole a couple of miles south and then turned back towards a mooring we’d spotted on our way.  The batteries aren’t fully charged, but much improved.