Pride and Performance

In February 2015, we were invited by Ian Lawson to provide carpet for his ‘Herdwick – A Portrait of Lakeland’ exhibition at Rheged, Penrith.

We installed both Light and Dark Grey Herdwick carpets in a harlequin design at the entrance to the exhibition which lasted for 3 months and was rewarded by a visit by HRH The Prince of Wales on the 1st April. 

To mark the visit, we were asked by Rheged to provide a further strip of Herdwick carpet on which HRH could enter and ultimately leave the building. 

The relevance and importance of using Herdwick wool in carpets was completely understood by him as the needs of Cumbrian upland farmers is a subject that has been dear to his heart for many years.

The carpets at the entrance to the exhibition hall continue to attract attention for their style and interest, promoted by an information board on the wall and, to date, have been walked on both in and out by more than 250,000 staff and visitors.

This represents the best wear test for our carpets that we could have ever hoped for since it demonstrates the dramatic pile retention qualities as each and every person needs to turn as they walk in and out of the exhibition hall.