Smyth working at the Linen beetling mill in Upperlands, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Managers at William Clark & Sons, founded in 1736, say the company has a bright future as interest grows in traditional beetled linen from high-class fashion designers, with an eye on sustainability. — AFP
THE noise is deafening and the work can be lonely, but to William Smyth, who toils in the world’s last commercial linen “beetling” mill, his job is unique.
“There’s nothing modern about it, I’m doing the same now as they were doing 100 years and more ago,” said Smyth, 59, at the mill in Upperlands, a village some 70km west of Belfast in Northern – the last commercial beetling operation in existence.
