Kilgrimol Heritage Crafts - Bast Fibers - The Humble Nettle

Come and join local Living History enthusiast Heather as she brings to life crafts from the Northwest's Heritage. Demonstrating the slowly vanishing skills that went into producing our clothing using natural materials.

Inspired by Heritage Crafts Red List, we’re focusing on endangered crafts. To see the full list of crafts please visit our website

This month's session focuses on Making a Summer Hat Using Natural Materials

Status: Endangered

Heather has saved the best til last, her favourite sustainable fibre made from Nettles. 

Love them or hate them, the Nettle has had a major influence in the textile industry in the UK. Prized for its fibers from cordage to beautiful weaves, the nettle was processed for textiles as early as 3000BCE. Its popularity declined following World War II, but this weed is now proving increasingly popular in the sustainable textile market/ You may even have items from its cousin with ‘no sting’, Ramie.

The Nettle has a history with our North West culture, where the local environment was not as suitable for Flax growing as the climate of the south. 

As Victor Hugo once said “When the nettle is young, the leaves make excellent greens; when it grows old it has filaments and fibers like hemp and flax. Cloth made from the nettle is as good as that made from hemp.”

At this session, we’ll learn about nettle processing and learn how to spin cord for the garden from the raw materials. 

ACCESS & VENUE

Access: If you have additional access needs (e.g. large print, BSL interpreter, level access) Please let us know by emailing or sending us an SMS text/WhatsApp message on 07957 602790‬

These sessions are in our upstairs workshop space. There is currently no level access. It’s a single flight of 14 steps then you go around the corner and there are two small steps. Once you’re upstairs there’s a loo. You shouldn’t need to come downstairs for anything until the end of the event.

If you can’t manage the stairs but really want to attend, please let us know by emailing (using the contact organiser button/link) or sending us an SMS text/WhatsApp message on 07957 602790 and will try our best to accommodate.

Getting here

• Tram to North Pier
• Bus:
• No 6 or 18 bus to Topping St.
• No 3, 3a, 5c, 6, 18 to Church St (Stanley Buildings)
• No 5, 5a, 5b, 6, 7a, 14 to Talbot Rd
• Driving: The closest pay and display car parks are on East Topping St and Talbot Road multi storey. There is also parking at the nearby Sainsbury’s supermarket, please make sure that you check the terms before you use the car park.

REFUNDS

• If you can no longer attend, please request a refund using the link in your confirmation email.
• Orders can be refunded up to 7 days before the event.
• Refunds will be subject to the Eventbrite booking fee of 6.95% + £0.59 per ticket