For centuries in the past, the building of sailing ships was an important industry for Lyme Regis with Henry Chard and John Mansfield amongst the well-known ship-building names of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Earlier, Lyme built several of the ships that fought the Spanish Armada. We can well imagine where the wood for ship building came from and it is well known that Bridport was central in rope making but from where was the cloth for the sails sourced?
On Tuesday 11th December at Woodmead Hall, Tony Brook will give a talk entitled “West Country Sailcloth – The Flax Industry in South Somerset” which will describe one such possible source.
The Picture above shows a typical Somerset flax mill.
The talk has been jointly organised with Lyme Regis Museum and will start at 2.30pm. The entrance charge will be £1.50 which will include refreshments.