Halifax was once the global capital of carpet-making and now one local firm is leading a revival

Richard Hughes pictured checking the looms. (Simon Hulme).

By David Parkin

Published 9th Oct 2021, 06:00 BST

Dean Clough, the gigantic mill at the heart of Halifax, stands as a modern day reminder that this was once the world’s biggest carpet factory in a town that was the global capital of carpet-making.

From the early 19th century onwards, the town’s fortunes have been intertwined with that of the carpet industry. Halifax carved a worldwide reputation for producing the finest carpets as more than 5,000 workers proudly crafted luxurious narrow loom Wilton and Brussels carpets at John Crossley & Sons.

But by the 1970s cheaper foreign imported carpets had seen the workforce shrink and Crossley’s ceased production of narrow loom carpets in 1975. Avena Carpets bought some of the old looms and continued producing these carpets but when it stopped manufacturing last year, it looked like Halifax would no longer produce the carpet which made its name worldwide.

Rachel Tighe checks the Archive Slips at Avena Carpets. (Simon Hulme).

Richard learned about production ending at Avena and was excited by the opportunity to relaunch narrow loom carpet weaving in West Yorkshire. “I knew the demand was there for these products. The light went on in my head,” he says.

“I wrote a business plan and approached potential backers, people with manufacturing experience in Yorkshire and other parts of the UK. My family has also backed me and when I commissioned someone to do a report on the state of the looms, he actually invested in the business!”

Richard, 36, acquired the assets, archive and goodwill of Avena Carpets including 10 of the original Crossley carpet weaving looms that date from 1850. They have been painstakingly restored and five are being used to weave carpets by Avena Carpets in Southowram. Such is the intricate weaving process that just 30m to 50m of carpet a week are produced on each loom.

The firm recently completed and fitted its first order, a stair carpet for a private home in the UK, while further orders have been received for historic properties in Germany and Norway and the National Trust. Interest is high and only expected to grow given that the firm holds an archive of over 5,000 designs dating back 150 years.

Avena's seven founding members at the Denholm premises in the mid-1970s.

This incredible carpet treasure trove, hanging in its warehouse, means the firm knows the exact pattern and size of carpet for every order it has ever made. Volunteers from Calderdale Industrial Museum are helping to catalogue the archive, enabling Avena to document and promote these historical patterns to interior decorators, curators and national heritage bodies worldwide.

The firm has also recruited weavers that used to work for Avena many years ago but who had moved into different industries.

John Joyce works on one of the looms now powered by electricity rather than steam, proudly pointing out the intricate patterns and colours involved in the process of creating a narrow loom carpet. “I never thought I’d ever be back doing this, it is truly amazing,” he says with a combination of emotion and exhilaration.

The business employs eight full-time and two part-time staff, including 72-year-old Alison who had retired but has returned to work to stamp the cards which determine the pattern on the loom. “She will train up a young person to do the job,” says Richard.

The machines at work in the factory near Halifax. (Simon Hulme).

He is proud that Avena is producing carpets the traditional way but there is one area where he does want to buck history. The firm has taken on a young female apprentice who will train to become a weaver with an apprenticeship in textile manufacturing with the Textile Centre of Excellence in Huddersfield.