#wensum

[lee-mills]

Norwich river wensum #river #norwich #norwichlanes #norfolk #discovernorwich #hiddengem #wensum #reflections #riverreflections #bridge #eveningphotography

[aisphotostuff]

Beautiful old mill straddling River Wensum Norfolk by Adam Swaine Via Flickr: Quiet and very pretty location down a little lane. Not too far from the coast.The River Wensum is a chalk river in Norfolk, England and a tributary of the River Yare, The River Wensum is the largest chalk-fed river in Norfolk, and paradoxically is a tributary of the River Yare, despite being the larger of the two. The river is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Its source can be found between the villages of Colkirk and Whissonsett. From here, the Wensum winds its way southeast for 30 miles through rich agricultural land and various urban areas. The River Wensum aptly takes its name from the Anglo-Saxon word for ‘winding’. In its lower reaches, the river forms part of the Broads National Park. Eventually, it enters the city of Norwich, before merging with the River Yare at Whitlingham.

[aisphotostuff]

The River Wensum flowing under Sculthorpe Mill in Norfolk by Adam Swaine Via Flickr: Wander through weeping willows on the Wensum then tuck into gamekeeper’s pie and ‘beers that belong’ at a beautifully restored watermill..well we had tea to early for lunch..

[xabirequejo]

The waterfront [at the edge of river Wensum]

[xabirequejo]

River Wensum II

[xabirequejo]

River Wensum

[arkravmaga]

A very intense (reality based) class looking at dynamic rear chokes, side headlocks and breaking out from tight situations. #arkravmaga #anglia #eastanglia #norwichuk #wensum #norfolkuk #kravmagauk (at Lakenham, Norwich) https://www.instagram.com/p/B41uA4pDmsF/?igshid=dbk0ia3x8pjp

[woollenhulls]

Unsung: Wensum Tailoring

What connects Richard James, Ede and Ravenscroft and Hackett suits? If you’re familiar with English ready-to-wear---or if you have read my essay on the topic for Parisian Gentleman---you will know that the answer is a tailoring company from Norfolk, in the east of England, called Wensum.

Wensum makes a vast array of garments, from uniforms and workwear to quality machine-made tailoring for many familiar brands. In 1971 the company established a factory in Mauritius, and since then this has become the principal manufacturing base for the company.

Perhaps understandably, the brands which use Wensum don’t like to advertise it, and for the same reason, Wensum itself makes little mention of its remarkable presence across the British RTW landscape, preferring to be discrete about the work it does for numerous brands from the high street to Savile Row.

At the same time, this means that Wensum itself goes largely uncelebrated despite producing fine garments which get plenty of attention under names other than their own. There is a house line of RTW, Bladen, which is marketed largely as an English Heritage brand---full of rich and generously cut tweeds---aimed at a lower market segment than Richard James and the like.

More interestingly, perhaps, Wensum also produces a self-branded line of MTM, which means the same factory MTM product is available (although not the specific jacket block) as through, say, Richard James made to measure.

Finally, for those of us in the UK, there is a good deal of Wensum tailoring floating around the secondary markets of eBay and the like. I recently bought a couple of pairs of trousers, made up in VBC super 120s, to the same specifications as my Ede and Ravenscroft suits, in a “slim fit” which fell in that golden place between a generous English cut and the Suit Supply skinny fit which many people, including me, find unwearable.

If you keep an eye out, you can pick up new trousers and suits for a tiny fraction of the price that they would cost from the bigger names. (Just be aware that Wensum make at many different levels, from a top line of half-canvassed modern suits in Italian cloths to a much simpler product in synthetic cloths made up for restaurant work and so on.)

Wensum’s business model means that it doesn’t get the attention it deserves, but between the high street and the Row they are the unsung powerhouse of English tailoring.