A hundred years ago Bradford's beautiful Wool Exchange resounded with dealings of bowler-hatted haggling merchants.

The lavishly-decorated hall was the centre of the district's thriving wool trade.

These days it merely hums with the chink of coffee cups and the browsing of book shoppers.

But visitors were treated to a reminder of its heyday thanks to members of the Bradford Guild of Handweavers, Spinners and Dyers.

They set up their looms and spinning wheels in a back-to-the-future type stunt to raise awareness of their crafts.

Margaret Clark, an expert tapestry weaver, and Freda Plews, an ace spinner, gave a live demonstration in the shop.

Mrs Clark, 76, from Rawdon, has wool in her blood as her father John Heaps was textile designer at Westfield Mill, Yeadon. She remembers visiting him there as a little girl.

"In the weaving sheds the weavers had to use sign language, the noise went right through you," she said. "My father ended up deaf because of it."

Now, she is an expert weaver herself although the small inkle looms she uses for demonstrations are a long way off the massive industrial versions.

With other club members, she enjoys regular demonstrations and workshops on the intricate wool-related crafts.

Spinning, however, is an art she has never mastered.

"I am the Guild's despair," she said. "It would snap or end up with thick bits and thin bits that people would describe as 'ethnic'.

"I'm envious of the spinners as they can spin and talk - they are a breed of chatterers but weavers have to concentrate."

Mrs Plews, 72, from Horsforth, has been spinning for 20 years after getting hooked through a course she did near her Ingleton holiday home.

"Housework and meals tend to get in the way," she said.

"This spinning wheel is a little darling," she added, deftly teasing out a skein of deep bluey green yarn - a luxury mixture of mohair, merino and silk.

Hand knitted into a sweater, it would set you back £200.

"There are members of our guild with a lifetime's association with the industry but we are just enthusiasts - we do it for fun," Mrs Plews said.

The Bradford & District Guild of Handweavers, Spinners and Dyers would welcome new members - you do not need to have any expertise.

Meetings take place the third Saturday of each month at the Bradford Industrial Museum, Moorside Road, Fagley, from 10.30am.

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