Herd Groyne
Lighthouse River Tyne.
There is a
third lighthouse, just upstream of the pier, on the Herd Groyne at South
Shields (which was constructed in 1861–67 to preserve Littlehaven Beach, then
known as Herd Sands, which had begun to be washed away by the change of
currents caused by the new piers). This very unusual lighthouse resembling a
1940s sci-fi movie space craft was built by Newcastle-upon-Tyne Trinity House
in 1882 (ownership was passed to the Tyne Improvement Commission the following
year). It consists of an upper hexagonal part (including the lantern) of wood
and corrugated iron construction, sitting on twelve cylindrical steel legs. The
whole structure is painted red and stands 49 ft (15 m) in height.
The Barbour
story began in 1894 in the Market Place in South Shields, England. Today the
5th generation family owned business remains in the read, with Barbour’s
headquarters located in Simonside, South Shields. Although it sources products
from around the globe, Barbour’s classic wax jackets are still manufactured by
hand in the factory in Simonside and each year over 100,000 jackets are processed
via the central, subsidiary and local customer service operations.
In 2004,
Barbour began to work with Lord James Percy, in the design and marketing of its
flagship shooting clothing range—the Northumberland range. Technically advanced
and highly acclaimed in 2005, the Northumberland Range won the Shooting
Industry Award for best clothing product, and the Linhope 3-in-1 won the
Shooting Industry Award for best clothing product, 2008. Percy was also
involved, alongside Vice Chairman Helen Barbour, in designing the new Barbour
Sporting collection launched for Autumn Winter 2011.
Barbour now
has 11 of its own retail shops in the UK, and a presence in over 40 countries
worldwide including the United States, Germany, Holland, Austria, France,
Italy, Spain, Argentina, New Zealand and Japan.
There are
now over 2,000 products across the two seasons and the collections now cater
for Men, Ladies and Children. Broadening out from its countrywear roots, today
the heritage and lifestyle clothing brand produces clothing that is designed
for a full lifestyle wardrobe. As well as jackets and coats, the Barbour
wardrobe includes trousers, shirts, socks, knitwear and a range of accessories.
Nevertheless,
in whichever area the company now operates, it remains true to its core values
as a family business which espouses the unique values of the British
Countryside and brings the qualities of wit, grit, and glamour to its
beautifully functional clothing.
HISTORY OF
BARBOUR WAXED COTTON: CLASSIC OUTERWEAR
You can’t
think of the classic Barbour wax cotton jacket’s provenance without a nod to
England’s nineteenth-century marine industry. And if necessity is the mother of
invention, hat tip to hardworking 15th-century mariners who slathered their
sailcloth in fish oil. It’s the earliest known iteration of waxed cotton, the
textile we admire so much these days for its weather-resistant functionality
and timeless appeal. Resourceful ancient fishermen repurposed worn sailcloth as
capes for themselves: the same properties to make their sails more efficient in
dry weather, and lighter during storms, also kept their own backs dry.
A few
centuries hence, “oilcloth” had morphed into a linseed oil-saturated Egyptian
cotton, a flax plant derivative replacing the erstwhile smelly fish oil as a
weather deterrent. A cheap alternative to leather, oilcloth could be used in
many of the same applications. Problem was, linseed oil also made the material
stiff in cold weather (and thus prone to cracking), and turned it yellow. It
took a long time to dry once it was soaked, and it was toxic to some degree.
Still, it served its purpose in the marine industry and remained more or less
unchanged from the mid-nineteenth century until the 1930s.
It was
then, over a period of two years and with the combined efforts of three
companies, a new generation of proofed cottons emerged, now impregnated with
paraffin-based wax instead of linseed oil. The result was a pliant and
breathable, water-resistant cotton that did not yellow. Manufactured
exclusively for outerwear, the newfangled waxed cotton in short order
supplanted oilcloth as the preferred material for heavy-duty foul weather gear.
Although J.
Barbour & Sons Ltd. did not invent waxed cotton, the company was an early
champion and purveyor of it. Barbour called the first thick, waterproof waxed
cotton fabric Oilskin, and its clothing line Beacon Brand. Oilskin outerwear
answered the demands of sailors, fishermen, and river, dock, and shipyard
workers in coastal South Shields, a busy port in the North East of England that
is still home to Barbour. Waxed cotton also appealed to farmers and
gamekeepers, and even found its way into Barbour motorcycling apparel as early
as 1934, later popularized by American actor and cycling enthusiast Steve
McQueen.
THE MANY
FACES OF MODERN WAXED COTTON
Nowadays
the terms “oilcloth” and “waxed cotton” are sometimes used interchangeably to
describe the same material, in spite of their real and historic differences.
Our partners at Barbour make outerwear of waxed cotton manufactured to
different specifications depending on its anticipated use:
Sylkoil is
an “unshorn” wax where the cotton comes straight from the loom while it’s
slightly fluffy and is then dyed and waxed. The natural imperfections of the
weave are reflected in the rich variations of color and finish. Over time, this
fabric softens into a lovely, slightly peachy looking cotton between waxes.
Thornproof
is a lustrous wax with a deep color and even touch. The cotton is calendered
between rollers and then dyed. The resulting finish is smooth cotton which we
term Thornproof because it is extremely resistant to snags and pulls from spiky
plants such as brambles and hawthorn.
In spite of
waxed cotton’s utility and appeal, modern polymers (GORE-TEX® is an example)
have threatened its extinction in recent years. And it is really no wonder:
they’re more practical and require less maintenance.
This begs
the question, why choose a Barbour waxed cotton jacket? You could as easily ask
why a book holds sway over a tablet reader, a mechanical watch over a digital
one, or wood over laminate, and the answer would be the same: because it
possesses a depth of character its modern counterpart lacks. When you wear a
Barbour jacket, you are wearing a piece of history.
And in the
end, waxed cotton has rallied: while the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth
centuries may have seen its widest use in the marine industries, the classic
waxed cotton jacket has made a comeback as essential outerwear for the
discriminating country sportsman, fashion maven, and urbanite alike. It is a
garment that develops patina with age, each mark a reminder of a page in a
chapter, or a chapter in a story.
For many of
us the waxed cotton jacket never went out of style. As stewards of a living
garment—one that will likely enjoy use by multiple generations—we proudly wear
this wardrobe beacon of our forebears.
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