Workday Wednesday - Nottingham Lace

Last week I attended an event at Debbie Bryan's shop in the Lace Market area of Nottingham. Called Communities Interrupted - Preserving Oral Histories of Laceworkers, it was an opportunity to record memories of lace workers & share family stories. 

I took along the beautiful Nottingham lace bedspread, which had been passed on to me by my Great Aunt Joy. The bedspread is around 100 years old now and was made from a design by Joy's grandfather,William Bucknall who worked for Fleirsheim & Co. 

Everyone received a lovely warm welcome from Debbie and some rather delicious chocolate torte. The stories were fascinating to hear and were recorded by Nottingham Trent University for their archive.

The event was partly filmed by Notts TV for their evening news bulletin:

And it was also streamed live on YouTube; I've started the clip from just before the beginning of the discussion on my bedspread - please excuse the poor sound:

Apologies - the videos have since been made private for the members of the group.

I had confirmation that the bedspread was probably a one-off piece, designed for display, which is what Joy had thought and it may have been made on a raschel frame.

I've added some close-up photos of the bedspread. i think my next move will be to find out some more information on William Bucknall.