mymas.orgWhat Britain still makes

Welcome. This is a register of what Britain still makes — tweed, bone china, an edge, a turbine blade, a welt, a blown glass — and of what each process demands from the people doing it.

All eighteen processesAbout this publication
01Cloth
02Clay
03Steel
04Alloy
05Leather
06Glass
Six materials, eighteen processes
All eighteen processesAbout this publication
01Cloth
02Clay
03Steel
04Alloy
05Leather
06Glass

01 Cloth / The lead entry

Harris Tweed

The only cloth in the world whose definition is written into an Act of Parliament

By an Act of Parliament of 1993 the cloth may only carry the Orb mark if it is dyed, spun and finished in the Outer Hebrides and handwoven by an islander at their own home.

Outer HebridesRead the entry →

PL. 01An adult weaver at a treadle loom in a small shed, cloth advancing on the beam, window light
Weaving happens where the weaver lives: the Act names a home loom, not a mill floor.

The Register

Every entry is one material, one place, and what the process demands.
No.MaterialWhere it happensWhat the process demands
01ClothOuter Hebrides — Lewis, Harris, Uist, BarraAn Act of Parliament. Dyed, spun and finished on the islands; handwoven by an islander at their own home.
02ClayStoke-on-TrentBone ash in the body. The material is why bone china is translucent, and why it rings.
03SteelSheffieldA fine, even grain that takes an edge — then a quench, and a reheat that gives back enough toughness not to shatter.
04AlloyThe investment-casting foundriesOne crystal and no grain boundaries, cooled by a film of air bled through holes half a millimetre across.
05LeatherNorthamptonA welt that can be cut off and replaced, so the shoe outlasts its own sole.
06GlassSt Helens, and the studiosTime. Cooling too fast locks in stress that breaks the piece months later.

05 Leather / Fig. 1

A construction that expects to be repaired

The welt is a strip stitched to the upper and the insole. The sole is then stitched to the welt, not to the shoe. When the sole wears through, the stitch that comes out is the one holding the sole — so the upper is never opened.

Northampton kept this because the argument it makes is about time rather than fashion.

The Goodyear welt →

inseamweltsole stitchupperinsole ribcork filloutsole + channel
Fig. 1 — through the edge of the shoe. The two orange seams do different jobs: the inseam holds the welt to the upper, the sole stitch holds the sole to the welt. Drawn for mymas.org, not to scale.

Read next

Ten of eighteen. The whole register →

01 Cloth

Embroidered orb and cross emblem stitched onto brown herringbone wool fabric

The Orb mark

A statutory mark, applied by an inspector, on cloth that has been checked.

Read the entry →

03 Steel

A glowing blade being quenched into oil, flame and smoke, dark forge

Hardening and tempering

Quench for hardness, then reheat to give back enough toughness that it will not shatter.

Read the entry →

05 Leather

An adult hand stitching a welt on a lasted shoe at a bench

The Goodyear welt

A strip stitched to the upper and insole lets the sole be replaced, which is an argument about time rather than fashion.

Read the entry →

06 Glass

A glassblower sits at a bench, blowing into a long pipe to shape molten glass

Hand blowing

A gather on the end of an iron, breath, and a very short working window.

Read the entry →
  • 01Cloth

    Dyeing in the wool

    Colour mixed at fibre stage rather than after weaving gives the flecked depth.
  • 02Clay

    Bone china

    Bone ash in the body makes it translucent and strong, and is why a cup rings.
  • 03Steel

    Sheffield edge

    Crucible steel gave a fine, even grain that took an edge, and the reputation outlived the process.
  • 04Alloy

    Single-crystal blades

    Turbine blades grown as one crystal run in gas hotter than the alloy's own melting point, surviving because they are film-cooled through laser-drilled holes.
  • 05Leather

    Lasting

    Pulling the upper over a wooden last is where the shape is actually decided.
  • 06Glass

    Annealing

    Cooling too fast leaves stress that will break the piece later, so it goes into a lehr for hours.
A kiln car stacked with white ware being pushed into a tunnel kiln, heat haze
The glost firing. The second firing fuses the glaze, and is where most losses happen — a whole kiln car can be lost to one fault. Read it

Every entry in this register is held in place by something specific: a statute, a mineral, a stitch that can be cut. None of them is held there by sentiment.