VIDEO: Prince Charles visits Bradford to boost wool industry (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Enthusiastic crowds give Prince of Wales and warm reception to Bradford

4:50am Wednesday 24th November 2010 in News

Prince Charles chats to youngsters on his arrival at City Hall Buy this photo »

Prince Charles came face-to-face with a direct link to the family of Kate Middleton, his soon-to-be daughter-in-law, during his Bradford visit.

Talking with Thomas Hainsworth, a director of the historic Pudsey cloth manufacturer Hainsworth, he discovered that the firm is still producing material once made by a company owned by Miss Middleton’s great-grandmother.

Hainsworth bought Luptons of Pudsey in 1952 and continues to produce collar melton (the lining material under jacket collars) at its Stanningley mill.

Hainsworth also produced the cloth for the military tunic worn by the Prince when he married the late Diana, Princess of Wales in 1981.

Mr Hainsworth said: “We were delighted to be able to show the Prince a link between our firm and Kate Middleton’s family, particularly as the date of the next royal wedding was announced during his visit.”

Prince Charles told industry representatives and guests that he was delighted with the response to the Campaign for Wool, which he had instigated to try to increase the demand for and price of wool, a natural sustainable product which accounts for only two per cent of fibre consumption.

He announced the campaign would next year go global to take the promotion into valuable markets in Asia and the United States. The Prince had been moved to convene the Campaign for Wool after learning of the plight of sheep farmers and seeing the price from his own flock at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire plummet.

He said he wanted the campaign to play an important part in building and maintaining the wool price in the next five years as well as highlight the attributes of wool as a natural fibre for fashion, interiors and the built environment.

The Prince said: “It gives me great pleasure to see that the Campaign for Wool is working successfully and helping to develop the market and increase the price of this wonderful fibre.

“The wool and textile industry around Bradford plays a vital role in the economic well-being of this region and to the whole of the UK and I am greatly encouraged by the impressive levels of innovation and quality at the sites I am visiting today.”

Frank Langrish, chairman of the Bradford-based British Wool Marketing Board, said: “The UK sheep farmers produce 29 million kilos of wool every year so they are delighted that this campaign has raised the profile of their wool.

“We are proud and grateful for the Prince’s support and patronage.”

Prince Charles was greeted on his arrival in Centenary Square by a pen of Swaledale sheep bred by Otley farmer Nicholas Houseman.

He also received a wool portrait of himself from the British Wool Marketing Board on behalf of the UK’s sheep farmers before going into City Hall to meet representatives of the wool textile industry.

He then went to Belle Vue Girls’ School in Heaton, Bradford, where after a short meeting with head teacher Mary Copeland he went on to chat with pupils about their new open-air classroom.

He also spoke to those involved in a mentoring initiative taking business into school and pupils into business.

Mosaic is one of the Prince’s charities and was founded in 2007 to create opportunities for young people and raise their aspirations. Belle Vue Girls has piloted and developed Mosaic programmes in Bradford.

Ayesha Alhelou, 16, who plans to become a doctor, told him how the Mosaic project had “opened her eyes” to the world of work.

Majid Asif, one of the Mosaic mentors who visits Belle Vue from Bradford University, said: “In just the six months I’ve been involved in the project I’ve seen the rewards and just what these young people can achieve and aspire to.”

The Prince also visited Bradford textile firms Haworth Scouring and Bulmer & Lumb.

With 250 staff in Bradford and at its Rashcliffe Mill in Huddersfield it is the area’s biggest textile employer – it also has 200 spinners working in Poland with half its sales for export.

The Prince heard how the company supplies about 500,000 metres of cloth for uniforms to the Ministry of Defence every year.

“Are they good at paying their bills on time?” he asked.

Bulmer & Lumb’s chariman Bill Waterhouse answered: “Yes, considering they’re a bit stretched for cash at the moment.”

The Prince also saw wool carpet samples that should have been familiar to him – because they are fitted at Buckingham Palace.

Seven-year-old Jacob Midgley, son of the company’s managing director David Midgley, presented the Prince with a suit length made from Lumbs Golden Bale and a wool shawl for the Duchess of Cornwall.