We have long wanted to hold a meeting in this fascinating venue with it's amazing history of the surrounding area, the tales of the Pendle Witches and it's integral Art Gallery. As our morning speaker, we were delighted to welcome Lesley Sutton, who initiated the Stories of Cloth project in Manchester recently, to accompany the local exhibition, 'Wrapped in Cotton & Silk'. The unique arts/heritage project focused on cross-cultural and intergenerational understanding of one another's lost and changing heritage.

Lesley had much to tell us about the ideas behind the scheme, setting up the actual project and it's various rich outcomes, which document the personal memories associated with the ritual events of birth, marriage and death, through the sensory medium of cloth. 

After a buffet lunch we arranged a visit to the nearby Queen Street Mill, featured in the BBC's 2004 drama, 'North and South'. As the last commercial steam-powered textile mill in Europe, it offered a unique 'sights and sounds' experience of working Lancashire looms driven by the engine 'Peace'. The Mill Shop sells calico and hessian off the roll.