Rural rugs go right round the globe
A hand- crafted product from the heart of Carrick now rests on floors around the world - from the Vatican to the Big Brother House.
Turnberry Rug Works has been quietly producing the finest in floor art from a rural factory near Dowhill Farm.
Their rugs are also a feature in many British Embassies across the globe.
MSP Brian Whittle made a trip to the converted granary to see the process and met boss John McKerchar to see the hand- tufting technique to the South Scotland MSP.
Brian said: “It was really interesting to visit Turnberry Rug Works and learn about the process.
“There’s a real craft to producing a hand- tufted rug and no margin for error when it’s being made.
“It was a pleasure to meet, John, Gerry and the team and discover another great Ayrshire business making a unique product that’s in demand around the world.”
The firm began making bespoke rugs in 1991 to almost any size, shape or design that a customer can imagine, using different yarns to produce a wide range of textures.
Six years ago the eight workers bought the company after the death of the founder.
The rugs are made on a canvass backing material stretched across a vertical frame, using a projector, the team then spend hours tracing every detail of the design onto the canvass before using the hand tufting process to push the yarn through the canvass using compressed air.
Director John McKerchar said: “It was a pleasure to have a local MSP visit, though Brian seemed to be less interested in the rug we had just made for the First Minister’s office at Holyrood!”