English Kilt

[English Bloke]

... That Black Country tartan is lovely!! Hmmm... I wonder if I qualify, one Grandmother's family coming here from Dalton-in-Furness...

Hi OCR.
Probably not. Dalton in Furness is just shy of Barrow in Furness in the county of Cumbria. The Black Country is (generally regarded as) west of Birmingham in the Midlands. It's about 175 miles or so, which doesn't sound much by the American perception of distance but in Britain, it's the other side of the world. You're right though, it is a smashing tartan. I know Philip and I have seen it up close. It's even better than it looks in pictures believe me.

[Paul Henry]

Hi OCR.
Probably not. Dalton in Furness is just shy of Barrow in Furness in the county of Cumbria. The Black Country is (generally regarded as) west of Birmingham in the Midlands. It's about 175 miles or so, which doesn't sound much by the American perception of distance but in Britain, it's the other side of the world. You're right though, it is a smashing tartan. I know Philip and I have seen it up close. It's even better than it looks in pictures believe me.

My parents live just outside Dalton, and my brother lives in Barrow. The whole area has suffered greatly from loss of jobs and lack of money, some of this isn't even recent, and although there were mines in the area once, there are several stories of the pit trucks being abandoned in the mouth of the shafts when times were tough, somewhere I even have some photos of one of those.
And to follow on from the Black Country tartan, I've just finished a kilt in that tartan, but still awaiting photos from the client, but there are some photos on my facebook on the kilt in work on progress.Black Country tartan

[chrisupyonder]

Now that is nice. I am impressed.

[O'Callaghan]

Actually, there is a St. George's tartan in red, white and blue. I'd far rather wear it than the monstrosity that was linked to. I don't know anywhere that has it available ex stock, though. In a sense Mac is half right, because you'd have to have some woven.

ScotWeb apparently has the London 1988 tartan available, for those of us who are from there, which I am originally. Mind you, it's complicated, as the borough I come from was only incorporated into Greater London when I was already 8 years old. The tartan commemorates the Lord Mayor's show of 1988, but I don't know of any other London tartan available from stock, or even atall.

And no, I don't mean Ontario!

[Morris at Heathfield]

The St. George tartan was designed by David McGill of International Tartans. Mr. McGill has designed tartans for various political entities. Some were solicited by the entities they were intended to represent; some were not.

Despite the existence of the London '88 tartan, there was a recent competition to create "A Tartan for London". A winner was chosen, but I don't know anything about its availability in woven form.

[OC Richard]

Hi OCR.
Probably not. Dalton in Furness is just shy of Barrow in Furness in the county of Cumbria. The Black Country is (generally regarded as) west of Birmingham in the Midlands.

Thanks for the clarification. So my great-great-grandparents didn't live in the Black Country, but they did black work, being coal miners!

They came to West Virginia in the 1880s and continued coal mining.

Anyhow this makes me wonder what the Cumbria tartan looks like, if there is one.

[OC Richard]

there is a St. George's tartan in red, white and blue.

Odd to use blue. I would think they would have stuck to red and white.







Red/white/blue is too generic as it could stand for Britain, France, the USA, or dozens of other countries.

[Mike_Oettle]

The St George tartan was designed to mark the tercentenary of the Act of Union (joining England and Scotland). Hence the Union Jack colours.
It makes clever use of the colours, suggesting the flag and especially the cross of St George.
There is also a St George check, intended largely for use as linings for clothing, which is mostly white with a red cross.
So far there doesn’t seem to be a Cumbria tartan, but I imagine it won’t be long before there is one.
Regards,
Mike

[O'Callaghan]

Odd to use blue. I would think they would have stuck to red and white.







Red/white/blue is too generic as it could stand for Britain, France, the USA, or dozens of other countries.

True, but then it would tend to resemble a gingham tablecloth, LOL!

[O'Callaghan]

The St. George tartan was designed by David McGill of International Tartans. Mr. McGill has designed tartans for various political entities. Some were solicited by the entities they were intended to represent; some were not.

Despite the existence of the London '88 tartan, there was a recent competition to create "A Tartan for London". A winner was chosen, but I don't know anything about its availability in woven form.

Then perhaps better to stick with what is available. London '88 is a predominantly dark blue tartan.