Oulton Broad's role in Russell Crowe's new Robin Hood film

20 August 2009

Hand-braided and painstakingly woven, the rush mats and baskets made on the banks of Oulton Broad would not look out of place in any stylish home.

But now a Waveney company's carefully made goods are going to take on a different guise when they feature in a new Hollywood blockbuster.

Weavers at a workshop in Oulton Broad, near Lowestoft, were given just two weeks to complete a huge order for bespoke baskets and mats from the production company which is currently making a film about Robin Hood, starring Australian heart-throb Russell Crowe as the archer and outlaw.

With filming now under way in Pembrokeshire, Wales, 32 hand-woven baskets, a rush mat and 50 bunches of rushes have been hand crafted by Waveney Rush Industry and delivered to the crew, ready to feature in the movie which is expected to be released next year.

Anna Toulson, manager at Waveney Rush Industry, said: "When we had a call from a company called the Merry Men asking about the possibility of getting baskets for Robin Hood, I thought it was a joke, but I looked them up and realised they were with the film's production company.

"We were given just two weeks to make all the baskets, so it was lucky we had a few already finished or we wouldn't have been able to take it on. Everything was woven by hand and we finished them all with a day to spare."

The art of rush weaving dates back to the Anglo-Saxon period and the six weavers who work at the company's workshop use the same processes and techniques to prepare and braid the rush which have been used for hundreds of years.

The freshwater rush, which is imported from Holland, is soaked on arrival at the workshop and then fed through a mangle to extract excess water and soften the fibres.

The rushes are graded by size to determine which size of braid they will make and the separate strands are then woven by hand to form a continuous braid which can be cut down or sewn together to make the various items, including laundry baskets, place mats and seats.

As the rush is grown without using any chemicals and only treated with water in the workshop, the entire process is environmentally friendly and echoes medieval methods. The products are even secured and finished using natural hemp thread fed through a traditional sail maker's needle.

Mrs Toulson said that she is looking forward to seeing the baskets on the big screen. "I've no idea what they're going to use the items for in the film, but some of the baskets we made were about four foot tall so I can only imagine they might put people in them.

"I think some of the bundles of rushes might be used for roofing. It was suggested that they might be destroyed during filming, perhaps in a fire scene, which will certainly be a shock when we go to watch the finished film. We'll definitely have to have a company night out to the cinema when it's on," she said.

The company, which moved to Caldecott Road in Oulton Broad from Aldeby, near Beccles, in 2000, has previously made mats for other films, including Jason and the Argonauts and the 2000 hit Gladiator, which also starred Russell Crowe.

Their woven mats have also been purchased by some distinguished customers, including the National Trust, Hampton Court Palace, the Tower of London and Prince Charles' Highgrove Estate.

For more information about the bespoke baskets and mats, visit www.waveneyrush.co.uk.