The landmark chimney of Lister’s Mill rises into the sky – shaped like a cotton reel and made of worsted dogtooth check. The image was part of a striking exhibition linking Bradford’s industrial past with contemporary designs, bringing textiles home to Manningham Mills.

The exhibition, Textile Traditions, New Visions, showcased new work by artists Linda Dewart and Catherine Slater, inspired by the mill. The materials they used include vintage fabrics originally woven there in its industrial heyday.

Once a symbol of the region’s booming textile industry, Lister’s Mill was built to a grand Venetian design. For 150 years it was the world’s largest silk and velvet manufacturer, pioneer of mechanised woolcombing and one of the biggest names in British textiles.

Owned by Lister and Co, it employed 11,000 men, women and children who worked in shifts of thousands across the sprawling site. The mill had its own amateur dramatics society, social club, sports clubs and resident doctor.

After it stopped operating in the 1980s, it stood neglected; the whirring of looms and clatter of mill-workers’ boots replaced by wind whistling through broken windows and pigeons cooing in the rafters.

Now the landmark building is alive again, thanks to Urban Splash’s £100 million restoration.

The Lister Mills complex is a stylish mix of apartments and business and community use.

The mill symbolised all that made Bradford a world leader in textiles. So the striking showcase of textile art on display recently in Manningham Mills Community Centre, housed in the former Silk Warehouse, is particularly fitting.

Textile Traditions, New Visions reflected an attachment to and affection for Bradford’s landscape, textures and heritage.

Catherine and Linda used fabrics originally manufactured on the premises.

“It came about as a kind and unexpected donation,” says Catherine. “I work for Education Bradford and I happened to mention to a colleague that I was doing this exhibition. She said, ‘My father used to be the mill’s deputy managing director and my mother has bolts of fabric from there.’ It was quite a stroke of luck!”

The former deputy MD was John Walsh. His widow donated four bolts of several metres of material.

“We felt nervous cutting into the fabric,” says Catherine. “The pieces of cloth were literally snippets of history. We were nervous about touching the cloth at first but delighted to use it.”

Adds Linda: “We’re particularly pleased we’re able to show our contemporary work in this fabulous building, which for so long supported a thriving local textile community.”

Catherine and Linda – who met through Skipton-based Textila III, a group of textile and media artists which aims to ‘push back the boundaries of traditional embroidery and move forward with new techniques and processes’ – have literally woven the mill’s textile history into their designs, paying tribute to its world-class manufacturing and the scale of the splendid building.

The artwork was showcased in the landmark building, with its original beams, iron pillars and stone walls.

“We researched the mill’s history; it’s astonishing what was produced here,” says Catherine. “It was so sad that it was empty for a long time, but the restoration is wonderful. It felt important to us to support what’s being done here.

“I use Manningham Mills Community Centre so it’s great to be making a contribution here.

“And I live on Lister Street, which is another connection to the mill.”

Freelance textile artist Linda, who studied art, design and textiles at Bradford College, incorporates stitching into painted surfaces in a variety of ways; figurative, landscape and abstract.

As well as her remarkable image of Lister’s Mill, with its dogtooth check chimney and windows shaped like small cotton reels, she has painted rows of colourful cotton reels, stitching into them original fabrics woven here. The fabrics include worsted wool, silk, velvet and Indian fabric, representing both the mill’s industrial connection with the Sub Continent and the area’s Asian population.

“There’s a wacky animal print I used too. I love the patterns that were designed here,” she says.

“Catherine and I came and took pictures of the mill – we felt it was important to reflect and celebrate its history and heritage.

“My ideas come from diverse starting points and develop into reflections on human behaviour, different groups in society, or interventions in the landscape.

“I like to take an issue that concerns me at a given time, whether it’s age, being female, kids growing up, trying to get fit – the usual stuff – then explore ways to express it which will strike a chord with others going through similar emotions.”

Also on display were clay plaques Linda has created, inspired by the gardens at East Riddlesden Hall, Keighley. “The tulips amused me; you think of them standing straight, but these were flopping about,” she laughs.

“I like working with clay because it’s from the earth, it’s a good starting point. I’ve used wire and beading to create the tulips.”

Linda also does life drawing and on display is a wonderful image of an old tramp, based on someone she met.

Wearing a shabby suit and a hat with a feather sticking out, he’s squashed into a narrow space. “I like people who don’t quite fit in,” says Linda. “He’s on a bed of suiting material because he might have been well-to-do at one time.”

Her work also includes beautiful images of ancient Chinese art.

“My husband and I did a charity trek across the Great Wall of China for the charity Scope, and I took photographs of the Forbidden Palace in Beijing. I put digital prints of the photos on to silk,” she explains. “Before going to China, I did some walking and came across flowers which inspired me.”

One of them was the stellata sub-species of the magnolia bush. Linda photographed it then played about with the image on the computer, before printing it on to fabric, dividing the image into smaller pieces. The result is striking images of sections of a flower, with beading and stitching incorporated into the paint.

Catherine is a freelance artist working mainly with her homemade felt. Her artwork on display includes striking monochrome pictures of facades of the mill, weaving fabrics into drawings.

“They’re pastel drawings, waxed to make the paper stronger and give it a translucent feel,” she explains.

Colourful thread is stitched into the drawings, creating the impression of rolls of bright fabric standing up against the mill windows. “Inside this building was all this colour and life,” smiles Catherine.

Another picture of the mill, made from handmade felt and Icelandic and merino wool, shows its height, with a slightly wobbly edge. “You feel giddy looking up at high buildings,” says Catherine.

As well as being influenced by buildings and landscapes, she works with luxury fibres creating ‘wearable art’, including the pretty pink scarf around her neck. On display are scarves made from cashmere, silk, alpaca and soya bean. They look like delicate vintage pieces, but are strong and warm.

“Water and friction turns the wool into felt. I lay it on my kitchen table and beat it with a rolling pin. It’s a bit like making pastry!” says Catherine.

* For more information about Linda Dewart’s work email lindadewart@hotmail.com For more about Catherine Slater’s work email cslaterdesigns@yahoo.co.uk For more about Textilia III visit textilia3.co.uk