Silken Strands was started by Rosemary Irving in her home in Gatley, Greater Manchester, in the 1970’s and was bought by us (Catherine & David Spalding) in 1995.  Imagine our shock when our first consignment of Natesh rayon spools arrived from India – all 10,000 of them, in 7 large packing cases!  

Later on our son Mark chipped in and bought Fantasy Fabrics from Susan Hill in Gt Yarmouth, ending its rather nomadic existence around locations in England and Scotland.  

Following my wife Catherine’s long illness and death in 2018 we have down-sized to a smaller house just two doors across the cul-de-sac, and by late autumn of this year (2021) we aim to have moved both our threads and our fabrics into newly refurbished and refurnished accommodation behind our new home.

Illness has dogged us for the last five years.  Our son Mark is hemiplegic and has intractable epilepsy that interferes with his normal life and he found that he cannot use his right hand for cutting fabric, so we aim to reduce the exotic fabrics side of our business eventually.  

Catherine developed osteo-arthritis when she was 50 which slowly hampered her mobility and then heart trouble in 2015.  She needed an aortic valve replacement in 2016, but due to her characteristic Yorkshire grit, she was very soon back to running her business, teaching twice a week, and directing and playing competitive bridge twice weekly.  Six months later she had a stroke, never walking again, try as she might.  She had to give up several embroidery projects that required precise hand control so she taught herself Pergamano work “to keep out of mischief”.

While Catherine was ill I too developed very poor circulation in my legs and feet and I am hoping that the second recent operation on my leg will improve things.  

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused misery to many good people and “lockdown” had knock-on consequences, one of which was that having bought our new house and business premises on 06/04/20 we couldn’t get any tradesmen or removers to help us to move, so we bought a large trolley and shifted most things ourselves.  I was supposed to be on “complete bedrest”!

But despite the pandemic, a trickle of orders kept coming in.  I was too ill to service them all, but we enjoy our “customer relations” and hope to pick up speed as my health improves. 

Catherine died at home on 11th April 2018.  She taught us not to give in to self-pity but to “grab a mop and bucket and get on with it”.  However I am left with rage and anger that the cruel disease that surely killed her –  my lovely, intelligent, funny, charismatic, talented wife who was a formidable administrator and an inspiring teacher (she often said that her students did much better work than she) – doesn’t even appear on her death certificate.