BBC - Radio 4 - Woman's Hour -Rugs

From hearth to art gallery

There was a time when every modest home had a rag rug in front of the hearth. Made of Hessian and scraps of old cloth, they were a good way of recycling old clothes and provided a cosy space on the stone flags.

However, they were also tainted with poverty and eventually lost out to prosperity and fitted carpets - but now there's a bit of a resurgence, and these humble peg rugs have become works of art in their own right.

Beamish Museum in County Durham has one of the finest collections and the senior Keeper is Rosemary Allen. Jill Hopkins spoke to her and also to Maureen Green, who runs rag rug workshops with local schoolchildren in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

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