We are thrilled to receive a grant from the Endangered Crafts Fund run by Heritage Crafts to support a project to bring straw plaiting back to Amersham. The Fund was launched in 2019 to increase the likelihood of at-risk craft skills surviving into the next generation.
Our project – A Home for Straw Hat Plaiting: Preservation, Development, Accessibility and Outreach – sees us working with expert plaiter Veronica Main MBE to take practical steps to support people to discover the craft and develop their skills. Veronica was awarded the MBE for her services to straw plaiting. She has been working with straw for over 40 years, is an experienced teacher and has written two groundbreaking books that record straw work’s endangered skills.
Did you know?
Working to make straw plait for hats was once an important occupation for women, children and men in Amersham and surrounding villages. The area was also home to milliners who could make the plait into hats for local women to wear. In 1871 there were more than 100 straw plaiters listed in the Amersham census records, the youngest 11 years old and the oldest 78.
Why does it matter?
While lace making in and around the town has been remembered straw plaiters have largely been forgotten. Recognising the work of so many local families demonstrate the dedication, talent and diversity of skills within the area. The skills of straw plaiting are now critically endangered and on the verge of being lost forever. We need more people to learn how to make authentic straw plait.
What can be done?
Amersham Museum have taken the initiative and with the support of the organisation Heritage Crafts have developed a year-long programme to bring straw plaiting back to Amersham and surrounding areas. There are workshops to teach how to plait and a workers’ network will support and continue the learning. The materials and tools for plaiting will be sold in the Museum shop. We will also commission a contemporary hat made from straw plait to add to the Museum’s collection.
The Museum is hosting Veronica to run two free beginners’ workshops and two half-day intermediate workshops. Our aim is that workshop attendees form a community that brings the craft back from critically endangered to thriving. We hope that attendees at a beginners’ workshop will go on to attend a half-day intermediate workshop later in the year to develop their skills further.
Beginners’ workshops
First beginner’s workshop:
Saturday 26th April. 10:00 to 4:00
Click through to details and booking
Second beginner’s workshop:
Monday 30th June. 10:00 to 4:00
Click through to details and booking