It's Official!
by Liz Millman - 10:25 on 01 March 2019
Wonderful / Bendegedig! Thanks to the newly named National Heritage Lottery Fund we have support to explore the story of the growth and cessation of wool production for the slave trade between 1650 and 1850.
Understanding the history of Wales is important to us all and the Learning Links International Team is delighted that the National Lottery Heritage Fund has approved our application to work with community research volunteers, historical societies, and a range of other groups and organisations, to enable us to get a better understanding of the early Welsh woollen industry and the seemingly surprising international markets.
So a huge THANK YOU to the newly named National Lottery Heritage fund.
“This project aims to bring together community research volunteers from Mid and North Wales who are interested in the history of spinning and weaving, with families from local farming communities interested in their history and heritage, to explore and tell the history of the production of a woollen fabric called ‘Welsh Plains’ between 1650 and 1850 and its markets, using archival records and exploring Welsh place names.
This is a poorly understood history of little known cottage industry that supplied local needs, before developing dramatically to meet the demands generated by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The project will also explore the little understood lives of the impoverished peasant households who sought a way of boosting their incomes by weaving woollen fabric for the “Plantation Trade”.
The project will produce on-line training materials for Community Research Volunteers and local families to enable them to research and share their findings. Working groups will be set up in consultation with existing local history groups; relevant guilds and other groups based across the areas of focus. The project will also include establishing “Hidden History Reading and Research Groups” to increase understanding of the history of Wales and the wider world at this time.”
The project funding is for a year, however it is anticipated that the majority of the research will take place in late spring and over the summertime, with ongoing opportunities to share the findings and the stories at local and national shows and exhibitions.
Then we will have time in the autumn to collate the findings and consult on the next steps to share the story. We will be busy during the autumn, with a range of activities in Black History Month (October). The project also complements Race Council Cymru’s “Black History 365” initiative, as we will be showcasing the project throughout the year.
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