5/21 Island Woolen Mill

Today, I spent about an hour at this fascinating woolen mill.  It was built in the late 1,800s but went out of business.  The current owner bought it in 1983, equipment and all.  It has produced tartan for the Queen and for Hollywood, including Braveheart.  Here is more information about it.  https://www.islaywoollenmill.co.uk/

They were working to load wool thread onto the weaving machines this day, so I did not see it in operation, but I did get a tour.  It is very easy to miss the entrance because there is only one tiny sign.  Here are some pictures of the ancient equipment:

 

Here are some pictures of the ancient equipment:

This was a very cramped space, so I could not get a good photos of the thread spindles. 

This was another room downstairs. 

Apparently they have not used these typewriters for a few decades! 

These well-worn stairs go to a third-floor attic, where we were not allowed to go, but I wonder how many feet have used these?

Hiding behind this row of wool shirts for sale was a machine for carding wool so it could be made into thread.  They do not do this here very often and never do any dying. The shirts and other clothing are made elsewhere from cloth woven here, but they did have a bunch of scarfs made locally.

Another photo of that carding machine.

I have absolutely no idea what the deer antlers were for, and did not get a chance to ask.

I neglected to get a photos of the small entrance room full of scarfs woven here, but they do sell a lot of things on their website, listed in the first paragraph.