The Warp, The Weft and The Weaver – Arrived on BBC Two NI and iPlayer
Date Posted: May 20, 2025
Monday 26 May, BBC Two Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer, 10.30pm
In a quiet barn, master handloom weaver Deborah White is attempting the difficult task of bringing a 200-year-old Jacquard loom back to life.
Co-funded by the Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund, The Warp, The Weft And The Weaver, follows Deborah one of the last damask weavers on the island of Ireland, who is part of a tradition of skill and artistry that is centuries old.
Once a marvel of craftsmanship that produced fine linens for royal tables across Europe, the loom – now reduced to little more than memory by decades of damp, decay, and neglect – has found its way to Deborah’s shed where she hopes to restore it.
With no manual, blueprint or any guarantee of success, Deborah sets out on a restoration driven by instinct and determination. Rebuilding the loom is a huge challenge and one she can’t overcome alone. Deborah assembles a top team – a master carpenter in Ards, a Donegal spinning wheel maker, a royal saddler, a blacksmith, and a Scottish loom restorer – each breathing new life into the machine.
Deborah traces the loom’s story from the weaving heartlands in County Down, where linen production was at the centre of life in so many Ulster-Scots communities, to revolutionary events in eighteenth century Glasgow that saw migrant weavers from Ulster challenge authorities, revealing the ties that bind Ulster and Scotland’s shared weaving heritage.
The crucial return of an historic Jacquard machine – originally brought over to Scotland by the Ulster-Scots weaving families who helped set up the linen industry in Dunfermline – echoes centuries of connection, and allows Deborah’s restoration to continue.
This is a story of heritage, and holding on to tradition, craft and the belief that some things are worth saving, no matter how long it takes.
The Warp, The Weft and The Weaver, was made by Triplevision Productions for BBC Northern Ireland, and airs Monday 26 May at 10.30pm on BBC Two Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer.
