england

Never prevent an opportunity for learning

Published: October 12, 2022

Mike Redwood discusses how important it is for the industry to be open to the public and to those who wish to learn more about the process of leather making.

George William Odey was one of the great tanners of the twentieth century

Published: July 26, 2017

Hanging prominently on the wall of the main staircase of the Lairgate Hotel in Beverley, East Yorkshire, England is a portrait of George Odey CBE (1900 – 1985). The portrait is by the Royal portrait painter Norman Hepple and was painted in 1973.

Pittards opens retail shop

Published: October 12, 2015

The British tannery is to open a retail shop in Somerset, South West England.

No Fire Sale

Published: August 11, 2015

For tanners of a certain age the mention of fire means multi-story tanneries with wooden floors built generally between 1870 and 1950 burning down as cellulosic finishes, solvents and buffing dust lying around and impregnated into and between every plank of wood made these old plants totally flammable. I well remember the days when the sales director was the last one out as he ensured that every hard to sell pack of leather was under a sprinkler to get "water damaged" should it survive the inevitable conflagration.

How markets slip away

Published: July 8, 2014

"A glove turns an event into an occasion" says Andrew Lawson of Cornelia James. He is standing in the sunshine outside the small factory in the south of England where he and his wife Genevieve produce the gloves regularly worn by the Queen, the Duchess of Cambridge and dozens of celebrities and pop-stars.