How the ancient craft of gathering rushes is making a comeback

Video report from ITV Anglia's Tanya Mercer

For the first time in five decades, rushes from Suffolk are being harvested to produce traditional products like carpets and baskets.

Craftpeople have been cutting and bundling rushes along the River Waveney for centuries, but during the 1960s it became became so polluted that raw materials from Holland had to be used instead.

Now rivers are becoming healthier again and so too are the rushes. A company is starting to harvest rushes - and its products are proving popular all over the world.

The practice had to stop when pollution and farming were reducing the quality and quantity of rushes. Credit: ITV Anglia

The team work with the Environment Agency to identify congested areas of the river to be cleared of rushes.

They leave with bundles of precious materials and the riverbed is cleared for its wildlife to thrive.

When enough rushes have been cut, they're taken back to their factory on Oulton Broad.

Once enough rushes have been gathered, they're brought to the factory for weaving. Credit: ITV Anglia

The rushes are kept in the dry, and then rewetted and mangled, before heading to the workshop.

The methods use to weave rushes haven't changed for centuries and the results are exactly the same.

The Waveney rushes are proving excellent quality, so the team now want to harvest other parts of the river and continue to make products with traditional techniques and local materials.

The same techniques to weave rushes have been used in the Broads for centuries. Credit: ITV Anglia