Harris Tweed

I am very late in flagging up the fashion show in Harris Tweed that took place in An Lanntair last Saturday. The occasion was the 100th anniversary of the Orb trademark. Those who have read my postings over the past five years will be familiar with my stance on the matter, but I have given myself time to come up with an approach that is looking more to the future rather than the past. Else you’d be going forward in reverse.

It is good to see that there are still people about who are willing to give Harris Tweed a place in world of fashion and beyond. It is certainly laudible that the range of garments is being expanded beyond the old jacket ranges. I sincerely hope that this brings a demand for the Clo Mor, a demand that will be met by supply.

Harris Tweed is not just about the product, it is also about the production. It can only be called Harris Tweed if it was hand-woven in the Outer Hebrides, and verified under the Orb trademark. There is a movement afoot to train new weavers, after many of the old weavers ceased operations. I hope that Harris Tweed can regain the place it so nearly lost after the disastrous mismanagement of the recent past.

Qualified qualification

It was with very mixed feelings that I read on Hebrides News that as of 2011 all Harris Tweed weavers will require a formal qualification before they are issued with tweeds by the Harris Tweed mills. Whilst it is a good thing that people's skills are recognised, I am just wondering whether this is not one more nail in the coffin of the Harris Tweed industry.

In the past, weavers learned their skills informally and did not have to gain a formal qualification for the Harris Tweed mills to send them materials to turn into tweeds. They would have been only too happy for any weavers to do work for them, as their order books were bulging and could hardly keep up with demand. And I do not recall that there were major problems with the quality of the work.

I am fully aware that in this day and age, you can only do most jobs if you hold the requisite paperwork (diploma, certificate, whatever) issued by a recognised college. I do not fault anyone for going down this path in the case of Harris Tweed weavers - but only for the reasons given in this paragraph alone.

The Harris Tweed industry has been decimated, with dozens of weavers giving up their looms for lack of work. The closure of the Stornoway mill due to the (lack of) activities on the part of its owner, Brian Haggas of Keighley, exacerbated the situation further. To place a further impediment in the way for people to rejoin the industry is not very wise at all. It shows in a painful manner how skills are being lost that used to be passed down the generations, and commend those in charge of the course for endeavouring to keep them alive.

In my opinion, it would have been much better to have built up a substantial workforce first, and maintain it in later stages using the system of qualifications.

However, there is a final point which is NOT being addressed - the lack of industrial capacity. The mills at Shawbost and Carloway have nowhere near the capacity that used to exist in this island and I am very cynical indeed when I read of all the promotional activity that is going on for Harris Tweed. What is the point of doing all that, including training people to be weavers, if you don't have the capacity to process the tweeds in the volumes that you need to make it a viable industry that will make a substantial contribution towards the economy of these islands.

Harris Tweed - my take

Tonight, the final programme in the series on Harris Tweed was aired on BBC4. The outlook remained at best a questionmark, and not much short of gloomy. Rather than get hot under the collar, I'll restrict myself to putting down the way I think the industry should move forward - a purely personal take, not unduly burdened by excess knowledge.

Harris Tweed is a product, unique to the Outer Hebrides, and therefore unique to Scotland. Its production, as laid down by the trademark description, has to take place in the Outer Hebrides - exclusively. This is such a narrow remit, that it merits intervention at Government level (Scottish Government) to take the industry in hand.

Brian Haggas's ownership of the Kenneth Mackenzie Mill in Stornoway should be bought out. He has a stock of men's jackets, which he is pandering off through newspaper competitions, saucy photoshoots and what not. At the rate he is going, it'll take nearly a decade to shift the 70,000 jackets that clog up his warehouse. The KM Mill's production capacity is needed, in conjunction with that of Shawbost and Carloway's mills, to make the volume, necessary to reinvigorate Harris Tweed. Rather than being in competition with each other, Stornoway, Shawbost and Carloway should work under an overseeing body which directs the work of the mills.

The BBC4 programme showed that there is demand for Harris Tweed. This should be channeled to be produced in the Outer Hebrides, using the abovementioned overseeing body. Who should this overseeing body consist of? Weavers as well as mills, combined with the Harris Tweed Authority. A cooperative? Well, I don't know enough about that sort of thing.

I'll repeat what I said at the end of my previous post on this subject. The Kenneth Mackenzie Mill in Stornoway is the keystone to Harris Tweed. Without this, the cloth will be relegated to handbags and seatcovers. And Brian Haggas's jackets.

Up and down

Contrary to my suspicions on Monday, the Uist rocket range was reprieved from closure. This means that 125 people in the Southern Isles will keep their jobs, and the threat to the upkeep of the St Kilda national reserve is removed. I fully back Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond in his praise of the efforts of the Taskforce and others, thanks to whom the range will now remain open. Losing 125 jobs in a community of 5,000 would equate to losing 125,000 jobs across London - at a stroke.

BBC4 has been running a three-part documentary on the present plight of Harris Tweed. The 3rd instalment will be aired next Tuesday, 22 September, at 9pm. BBC4 is not available on terrestrial television; the episodes can be seen on BBC iPlayer - if you're in the UK. Apologies for the plugging of BBC services.

More to the point, it showed the fate of the Kenneth Mackenzie Harris Tweed Mill here in Stornoway, which was mothballed earlier this year, shedding all of its attendant jobs. Owner Brian Haggas had sought to convert it to a production unit for men's jackets made out of Harris Tweed, with 4 patterns. He utterly failed to grasp the idea behind Harris Tweed. And as a result, he as good as had to admit failure of his Stornoway enterprise.

Harris Tweed is still in demand, as the programme shows. However, with production capacity of tweed and yarn reduced drastically, it would require the re-opening of the KM mill in Stornoway. For that, it would probably be advisable for Mr Haggas to sell the plant, in order to cut his losses. If not, Harris Tweed is doomed to be reduced to handbags and seatcovers.

Talking up or down

The Harris Tweed industry has suffered serious setbacks in the last few years, in terms of capacity. The Kenneth Mackenzie mill on Stornoway's Sandwick Road has been mothballed, after owner Brian Haggas said he did not need it to make anymore tweed for his line of jackets - which are selling like antonymic hotcakes. Not, in other words.

I am not being negative for the sake of it, but in recent times I have watched with total bewilderment how Harris Tweed has been talked up by everyone from the Scottish Government down, with fashion parades in An Lanntair in Stornoway as well as in the Big Apple, New York. That is all fine and dandy, and I should applaud the promotion effort. But what is the use of promoting a product for which there is not the production capacity? Correct me if my facts are way out, but I though that the KM mill in Stornoway had 80% of capacity. So, if that is out of commission, how on earth is all that demand, being talked up out there, going to be met? Maybe that should be addressed as a matter of priority. But how?

Tweed Fund

This post comes with a sarcasm alert.

Les asked about my opinion on the £300,000 fund for the Harris Tweed industry, set up by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. I should be pleased about this. Why do I think though about closing doors after horses have bolted? The largest producer of Harris Tweed is out of action for a year, so the entire production of the cloth will fall to the mills at Shawbost and Carloway. Whether they have the capacity to meet all that demand, I do not know. Training up new weavers? Commendable, but a wee bit on the late side. If not too late. Many weavers have already packed up, following downturn after downturn in the last number of years.

I am also supposed to be pleased about the fact that weavers who no longer have any weaving to do can now claim unemployment benefit. Yes, that is very good, because beforehand they could not. But if the Harris Tweed industry in Lewis and Harris had been managed with an industry-wide strategy, rather than the self-destruct policy of mindless competition, seen in recent years, weavers would not be sitting idle now.

Weaving loom in action

Visited the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village on Friday, and found the Hattersley loom in action. This piece of kit is used to weave Harris Tweed. Better look sharp about watching it out there or on here, as the industry appears to be in terminal decline.

Watch the video from this link.

Windfarm application

Hebrides News tells us that Lewis Windpower, who want to build the North Lewis Windfarm, have been granted a few days' grace to further argue their case. Planners apparently will take a decision within 4 weeks. Don't think it's going to take 4 weeks to decide on the current staggered approach, which to me reeks of staggering desperation.

I do hope the Scottish Government hold their nerve and stick to their guns.

If their position remains the same and the application is turned down, I'd be interested to hear of the political repercussions. These should come in the shape of thinking caps being donned at Sandwick Road [Council Offices] to churn out alternatives to salvage the Western Isles' economy. Some ideas I just come up with on a Monday evening before supper.

1) whisky distilleries
2) investment in tourist amenities
3) support to help the Harris Tweed Industry back on its feet
3a) take the Harris Tweed industry into public ownership
4) call centres
5) tidal and wave power generators for local supply
6) take the Arnish Fabrication Yard in public ownership

With the amount of money already sunk into the Yard, it practically is in public ownership. And taking the Harris Tweed industry in hand gives the opportunity to supply the man from Keighley with the tweed he needs for his 5-patterned jackets at a competitive price.

Harris Tweed U-turn

The multi-million pound order for Harris Tweed, initially declined by Mackenzie's Mills in Stornoway is now apparently back on again. Mill owner, Yorkshireman Brian Haggas, has declared that a reduction in patterns will not take place until the end of the year. The order will provide work until next March. It was also announced that the Shawbost mill, closed by Mr Haggas' predecessor Mr Murray, will be reopened to operate in competition with the Stornoway enterprise.

I think it's a very good idea to have a bit of local competition, as this is likely to prevent the wholesale ditching of the thousands of patterns. It would also appear that the German company had a contract, which they felt to be enforceable. It is for 75,000 yards of tweed, containing 20 patterns.

Harris Tweed problems

Weavers and millworkers in the Harris Tweed industry in Lewis have reacted with horror to the announcement that a large order has been refused by industry owner Mr Haggas, as I quoted in previous post. .

A cooperative may now be set up independently to safeguard the continuity of the industry. One mill remains outside the realm of formerly Mackenzie's mills, which is the wee place over at Carloway. Their current market segment has been put at around 5%, and they're only working 3 days a week. My info may be out of date.

I hope this venture does win through, otherwise the Harris Tweed industry is down the tubes.

Harris Tweed order refused

The new owner of the largest producer of Harris Tweed in the Western Isles, Brian Haggas, has declined one of the largest orders for Harris Tweed in 20 years. The order originated from Germany. Initially, weavers and producers had been delighted at the prospect of this order. Mr Haggas declined to comment, saying it was an internal matter.

The new owner has previously announced he would severely restrict the number of patterns (from thousands to 5), and that he would also focus on men's jackets.

It would appear that the Harris Tweed industry is continuing its decades long decline into oblivion at a steady pace.

Graveyard

I have been going round a few of the island's cemeteries in recent times, looking for and photographing tombstones of victims of the Iolaire Disaster in 1919. On my visit to Bragar's cemetery this week, I came across the tombstone for Kenneth MacLeod of Shawbost, an important figure in the Harris Tweed industry. He died in 1949 at the age of 67.

Standing there on a cloudy, windswept day, the news came back to me about ongoing developments in the industry today. And what would he make of it now? Mr Macleod got local weavers to weave tweed for him in the first half of the 20th century.

Late in 2006, Yorkshire industrialist Brian Haggas bought over the remaining Harris Tweed mills in Lewis, of which the largest stands in Stornoway. Shortly beforehand, the closure of the mill in North Shawbost was announced, with the loss of about 30 jobs. Last week, plans were announced to shrink the range of tweeds to 5, although not directly in such words. The announcement was to the effect that single-width weavers would be laid off. Not many of them left, but it was seen as a sign on the wall. Some 20 years ago, there were hundreds if not thousands of different tweeds in circulation. It was a top of the range product. Fears are now being expressed that this prestige will be lost.

It sounds as if Harris Tweed is heading for its own graveyard in history.


On a related note, I came across streets of derelict business premises in the Newton area of Stornoway. This used to be the centre of the Harris Tweed industry in years gone by, but is now broadly in disuse. A line in the recent Budget caught my attention, as the tax on disused business premises was due to be increased, or words to that effect.

I am surprised that the non-residential side of Newton is allowed to fall into ruin like it is at the moment. I hope that following the local council elections on May 3rd someone will have the foresight to come up with a plan for a major revamp of the area. Yes, I am aware that a number of businesses are thriving there