Last weekend, I was lucky enough to get to visit Gawthorpe Hall and to see a sprinkling of the wonderful textile collection housed there.  When I was working towards my City & Guilds diploma in Sweden, I came across this collection in my research and first learned about Rachel Kay Shuttleworth - the founder of this extensive collection.   My first glimpse of her came in these wonderful books about the history of embroidery by Gail Marsh.  These books are simply wonderful if you love the history of embroidery - full of stunning photographs and packed full of information and techniques, these are ever present in my sewing room and much drooled over.  When I looked further into Gawthorpe's textile collection,  I made a mental bookark to visit this place on my return to England.  As it turns out, amazingly, I don't live too far away and last Saturday we made our first trip there.