Last week B&B paid its very first visit to William Clark – a manufacturer in Northern Ireland that supplies our key linen and cotton products. Established in 1736 William Clark has an incredible pedigree and history supplying fabrics in the early part of the 20th Century to the East India Company and for use in military uniforms.
Located in Upperlands, Maghera, it was a pleasure to have a tour of Ireland’s oldest linen fabric mill. We also visited the local Flax Visitor Centre which is lovingly curated and maintained by locals of Upperlands who are keen to preserve the area’s history.
The most interesting aspect of our tour was to view the beetling shed. A process unique to William Clark, linen is placed over horizontal wooden beams which are pounded with squared off vertical beams in an undulating loud fashion that can be seen in the short video below.
The same beetling process has been used for nearly 300 years and cannot be replicated by any other man-made process. The beetling shed at William Clark is one of the last working in the world.
This beetling process adds strength and sheen to our linen products that are used by high quality bespoke tailors around the globe. You can view some of our Linen and Cotton products on our website.