Walthamstow has a way of surprising me. The kinds of businesses which externally are apparently the most modern, are often the least responsive to the needs of the modern customer, whereas some of our most staid businesses, from the outside, are actually among our most modern and up to date. Rather like at the Darussalam Bookshop, the Handweavers Gallery has an exterior which looks like the business ought to be very stuffy and set in its ways.
However, this gem of a niche business at 29 Haroldstone Road, is not. On my regular strolls past their shop through this quiet and desirable residential area, a short turn off Coppermill Lane, they look as if nothing much has been going on since the 1970s. However, while it may look that their means of offering their extensive stock to the public is only through their calm and attractive presentation, and sale, inside the shop, in fact they have a well established modern mail order business (like the Textile Centre in the High Street may be aspiring towards), supported by some use of the internet. The gallery is well known throughout London and the UK as a centre of excellence for people already engaged in the past-time and for their courses for people interested in learning about felt making, colour, dying, spinning, tapestry and weaving. They sell everything anyone would ever need to make their own cloth by hand, including spinning machines, looms, fibres, fleece, yarns, magazines and information, as well as patterns etc for people interested in embroidering their own tapestry. Along with the material, fabric and haberdashery businesses in the High Street, the Handweavers Gallery and Studio helps make Walthamstow an excellent place for creative, practical people (they are not all women) who like to design their own look.
They are open 10am - 5pm Tuesday to Saturday.
Tel 020 8521 2281