South Chard company nets a big one with help from history

12:50pm Monday 4th August 2008

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A SOUTH CHARD company is looking to the past to help it move into the future - and Chard Museum is helping to provide the equipment.

Manufacturer Swisstulle UK Ltd is responsible for making Bobbinet, a specialised type of fabric netting that has applications in embroidery, film studios, the military, medecine and many other areas.

In order to make sure it can keep up with demand, the company is borrowing a threading machine it donated to the museum 18 years ago.

Swisstulle needs the machine to create a specific type of netting used in creating special effects for Hollywood films. They are very rare machines today and Swisstulle plan to return it as soon as possible.

The machine itself is based on a 200-year old design, an age when Chard had five lace mills and was a major producer of the lace used in mosquito nets.