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The Story of Coco Matting

1947 , Hadleigh (Suffolk)

Cat no. 51

Making coco matting at E.H. Price's Brett works, Hadleigh.

An interior family scene of a child playing on coco matting whilst his mother sits in a fireside chair reading. The story of coco matting is told as the mother explaining its origins to her son. A map shows the route of the raw material coming into Britain. A boat comes into port and then a lorry brings the raw material to the factory. The coir yarn is shown as it arrives. The film shows the dyeing vats and the yarn undergoing the dyeing process. After the dyeing process skeins of green and red yarn dry on the racks in the open air behind the factory. The yarn is wound onto bobbins to form both the warp thread and the weft for the woven matting. The 'creels' and 'cops' are shown mounted onto the loom and the loom is shown in operation, weaving a roll of matting. The film cuts away to the roll as it is rolled out and cut by hand using a pair of scissors. It is bound by sewing machine. The mats are then packed, revealing a range of colours and different weaving styles, and loaded onto a lorry. The final shots are of the mother and child back in their home.

Keywords

Coco matting; Dyeing; Manufacturing processes

Intertitles

Where does this lovely rug come from mummy? I'll tell you about it. This is coir yarn from which coco matting is made. Some of it is used in its natural colouring, and some goes to the dying sheds. When dry, the yarn is wound onto bobbins ready for the looms.The yarn from these bobbins forms the warp thread of the matting and is drawn from the 'creel' at the back of the loom. Other yarn is wound onto 'cops'. The 'cops' are placed onto the shuttles of the loom and the yarn on them provides the weft or cross thread of the matting. The huge rolls of matting are cut into lengths and bound at the ends to make rugs. Packed and dispatched to the retailer. And finally they add comfort and brightness to the home.

Background Information

In 1946 Peter Boulton and Gilbert Hawker set up Boulton Hawker Films. Their main objective was to make educational films. This is one of a series of films on local crafts made between 1946 and 1947. Boulton Hawker also made films on agriculture, market gardening and geography.The making of coco matting was the last vestige of the ancient weaving industry in Hadleigh. The film shows weaving in the Brett works of E.H. Price Ltd, who were the main employers in Hadleigh at the time. Mat weaving as shown continued in Hadleigh until about 1950; since then completed matting has been imported from India. (See D. Cleveland, East Anglia on Film, Poppyland Publishing, 1987. See also background information from: Holbrook, Suffolk, 1949, The Dairy Farmer.)

  • Camera : Peter Boulton

Manifestations

The Story of Coco Matting

  • Barcode
    INV338375
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    MP4 H264 digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:10:25
    Modification Date
    24/11/2011
    Parts
    Reference
    734283
  • Barcode
    INV311752
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    MP4 H264 digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:10:25
    Modification Date
    31/08/2011
    Parts
    Reference
    724633
  • Barcode
    INV342086
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    MP4 H264 digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:10:25
    Modification Date
    31/08/2011
    Parts
    Reference
    723839
  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV346713
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    DV digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:06:40
    Modification Date
    10/05/2011
    Parts
    Reference
    710815
  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV328089
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    master digital
    Dimension
    Duration
    0:06:46
    Modification Date
    18/10/2010
    Parts
    Reference
    694155
  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV178447
    Canonical Identifier
    TB 250
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    Umatic tape
    Dimension
    Identifier
    Modification Date
    22/07/2008
    Parts
    Reference
    673138
  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV284585
    Canonical Identifier
    VP-398
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Duration
    0:12:00
    Identifier
    Modification Date
    25/06/2021
    Parts
    Reference
    562792
  • Activities
    Barcode
    INV307349
    Canonical Identifier
    A-690
    Canonical Title
    Unknown
    Carrier Type
    16mm film
    Colour Type
    colour
    Dimension
    Has Sound
    N
    Identifier
    Image Polarity
    positive
    Modification Date
    25/06/2021
    Parts
    Reference
    560646
    Sound
    silent

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