A HISTORIC factory on Wrexham’s Industrial Estate has inspired a new exhibition opening at Ty Pawb in February.

The Redwither Tower was once a major factory for yarn-manufacture, spinning and knitting.

The factory, built in the mid-1950s, in which 2,000 people worked on the site when it was at peak production, will now be the subject of a new exhibition at Ty Pawb, entitled Uptwist Downtwist.

Named after two departments of the factory, it will celebrate a significant part of Wrexham’s industrial heritage.

At the end of 2018 Ty Pawb issued an invitation for former staff to get in touch and share memories and photographs of the factory.

Those who came forward have since been working alongside artist Don Braisby and Coleg Cambria students to create work on film inspired by the weaving process, memories of the factory, and the factory building itself.

The Leader:

Jo Marsh, Tŷ Pawb’s creative director, said: “We are enormously grateful to the factory staff who have been so generous with their time, knowledge and precious photographs for this exhibition, and it has been wonderful to see how much the students have been inspired by what they have learnt.

“The title of the exhibition refers to departments in the factory and to the movements of the students on film.

“Archival material and work by the students will be shown alongside film, sculpture and textile work by contemporary artist Will Cruickshank, inviting contemplation of the parallels between the artist’s making process and the weaving processes at the Celanese factory.

“We are really excited about the work produced for the exhibition, by the artists and the students, and we’re looking forward to inviting everyone to discover more about this rich and fascinating part of Wrexham’s heritage.

“The exhibition is intended to be a companion to our upcoming Grayson Perry exhibition, which features large tapestries on fabric.

“We’re delighted we’ve been able to weave some of Wrexham’s history into this theme.”

For the council, Cllr Hugh Jones said: “Work being produced by Glyndwr students looks wonderful.”