I recently visited Adamley Printed Silk of Macclesefield in Cheshire to see how an old industry has adapted to the modern world and markets. Macclesfield, in England's north west, just south of Manchester, is on the edge of the Pennines, where plentiful water powered mills and fuelled the industrial revolution. The town has been famous for its silk industry for over 300 years. Now, even if water no longer powers the mill, it is still used in the manufacturing process as silks are printed using traditional and modern processes
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| David Evans (no relation) is a famous silk name and now part of Adamley |
Adamley uses traditional screen printing alongside digital printing. The very slight imperfections and variations in the older method give the finished product a charm and beauty that, some say, the digital finish cannot match. However, the digital finish has other advantages, not least lower cost, so Adamley sensibly cover all the options here.
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| Screen printing at the Adamley mill |
The mill houses a wonderful archive of designs, many originally owned by the famous David Evans silk works. The library dates back to the 1800s and contains quite breathtaking designs, many of which are still used to inspire modern designs at Adamley.
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| Digital printing at Adamley |
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| Part of the David Evans archive |
Below are some images from the wonderful archive:
For more on Adamley, their history and products, see their website here.
