Brewers' Company Tweed

During 2002 whilst Richard Everard was Chairman of the Livery Committee he embarked on designing a special tweed for the Brewers’ Company. There are quite a number of sporting estates who have their own estate tweed and there are two regiments, the Blues and Royals and the Welsh Guards, who also have their own tweed.

As there were so many brewers who enjoyed outdoor pursuits he took a sounding from some of the senior members of the Company and received a very positive response to take this project further. After considerable research a suitable tweed mill was found, Mallalieu’s of Delph, which is just north-east of Manchester on Saddleworth Moor.

The tweed was designed in conjunction with the family mill based on one of their stock backgrounds with a special over-check. Estate tweeds are designed as camouflage based on the their immediate surroundings so, in our colour scheme the background reflects pale ale malt, the green flecks in the herringbone refer to hops, the dark brown over-check reflects ale, the light brown over-check reflects lager, the blue is the brewing liquor and the red over-check comes from the Brewers’ Company Coat of Arms.

The weight of the tweed needed to be suitable for deer stalking and shooting but also soft enough to wear for golf. Originally there were two designs from which the Court chose the current pattern.

Two bolts of cloth were ordered from the mill and a cap maker in Huddersfield was tasked with making up a number of caps in two different designs following orders received from a mailing to Liverymen which showed photographs of the tweed made up into a shooting suit and the two cap designs.

Some years later Richard had a number of ladies hats designed by the same hat manufacturer and following another mailing, orders were taken and made up for these. This was definitely a “one-off” project as he stated that he was a brewer not a milliner!

The entire project was self funding and today there are stocks of both caps in various sizes and a stock of tweed ready to be made up into breeks, jackets or suits. It is believed that we are the only Livery company to have our own tweed – unless you know better!