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To bead or not to bead
AT first sight it looks more like a sweet
shop, a magical sweet shop as invented
by Willie Wonka perhaps. Rows
and rows of jars glinting and glistening
with all the colours of the rainbow.
Closer inspection reveals the jars contain not
sweets, but beads - so enticing that even the most
hopeless might be tempted into making something
with them.
And there are not just the cheap and cheerful
beads in the jars, but in display cases, there are also
the very special, ancient and precious beads that
have an entire history wrapped up in them _ 2,000-
year-old Roman trade beads, Nigerian chief beads,
Peruvian hand-painted beads, antique silver beads
from Afghanistan...
As well as hundreds of necklaces and bracelets,
again in all colours shapes and sizes, including
some by top name Jackie Brazil, from subtle and
traditional to bright, bold and unusual - even one
that looks like a string of liquorice allsorts.
It's all the brainchild of mother and daughter
team Jill and Kate Watkin.
As her children left home, Jill took to travelling
and in New Zealand she came across the Bead
Gallery. "She was just blown away," says Kate "and
knew straight away what she wanted to do."
Back home she enlisted the help of Kate - a
Durham graduate working in PR in London - "and
only too glad to get out and
come north again" - and together
they flew back to New
Zealand and then home again
to set up Lebeado, in Old Elvet,
Durham.
"What we wanted was the
wow! factor," says Kate, 25. "I'd
beaded since I was a child but
it still has a bit of a hippy
image and we wanted to make
it much more fun, funky and
stylish."
With a lot of help and advice
from the experts in New
Zealand, they finally opened the shop at the end
of last year. A reader wrote to us to commend it for
its originality and for the helpfulness of its staff.
"We want it to be for everyone," says Kate.
"We've got beads that cost £400 each, but we've
got rings for a fiver, so that makes it fun for everyone.
Naturally, we get a lot of students coming in,
but we get all sorts and ages of people."
Last month Jill and Kate launched the Lebeado
website and hope soon to have more shops around
the country. They seem unstoppable.
They are a dynamic family. Jill is a former property
developer and interior designer, her husband
Karl is a successful entrepreneur, and Kate fizzes
with so much energy that she rarely pauses for
breath and can hardly stand still, let alone sit
down. Just watching her is exhausting. (Provided
her injured knee recovers in time, she's off on a
run soon in aid of the charity Facing Africa.
154km, or nearly 100 miles across the Sahara
Desert. "I like to be on the go," she says, with some
understatement.)
The list of beads in the shop includes bone, ceramic,
Chinese, Czech glass, Indian glass, stone,
shell, Swarovski crystal, Venetian, wood and
seeds. Many come from Africa, especially the
"trade beads" - long used for currency .
"Africa has the most amazing beads. We try
where we can to use Fairtrade suppliers. We'd like
to be completely Fairtrade but
that's not possible yet. We get a lot
from Zimbabwe, but we daren't
talk about that, given the political
situation," says Kate.
"In Ghana we have a lovely lady
called Aunt Jemima who sources
beads for us. That's the other
thing - we have got to know so
many interesting people."
Jill has just returned from Hong
Kong with new supplies of pearls
and semi precious stones, and the
New Zealand link continues to be
strong, with New Zealanders
working in Lebeado.
Lebeado is full of customers of all ages and all
backgrounds, intrigued by this shop that is so new
and different.
In the centre of the shop is a beautifully ornate
Moroccan table and chairs. This is where people
sit for the regular beading workshops. They usually
cost around £15 per person and they've run
them for men, for children and even for a 21st
birthday party.
"Beads are not just jewellery," says Kate. "Every
one of them has a story. That's what makes them
so fascinating."
■ Lebeado, 89 Old Elvet, Durham. Open 10am-
5.30pm Mon-Sat; 10am-4pm Sun.
www.lebeado.co.uk
Bouquets of the Week
Gifts for our soldier boys
Dear Sharon,
PLEASE would you consider
the ladies of Chilton Post Office
for our bouquet. Margaret,
Pauline and Susan have been
raising donations for gifts and
parcels to send to the boys serving
in Iraq and Afghanistan for a while
now.
As the mother of one of these
boys, I know it means a lot to them
to know how much these selfless
people are thinking of them.
Marion Alderson, Chilton.
■ A number of incidents lately
have made us wonder if society as
a whole really appreciates what
members of the armed services
do and achieve. Recently,
residents objected to a
rehabilitation centre for limbless
servicemen, as it would lower the
value of their houses, and
members of the RAF have been
insulted when wearing their
uniforms in the streets.
Meanwhile servicemen and
women do a difficult and
dangerous job with precious little
thanks or recognition. So how
refreshing to hear of people such
as the ladies in Chilton Post
Office. Not only do soldiers get
some useful presents in the
middle of the desert, equally
important is the fact that they
know they are remembered and
appreciated. And so, in turn, are
Margaret, Pauline and Susan,
who get this week's bouquet.
JOYCE Bennett asks us to thank
the kind stranger who found her
keys in the car park of Morrisons
in Darlington and handed them in.
"I don't know who they were to
thank them, but I would like them
to know how grateful I am."
Gerald Stevenson of Sedgefield
wonders if we should actually mention
his thanks... "I have had to
make a number of visits to Darlington
recently on family business
and have parked in the council car
parks. On two occasions before I
could buy a ticket, a driver leaving
the car park offered me their ticket,
so I was able to park for nothing.
I appreciate that this means the
council coffers might be a little
emptier than they would otherwise
be, but I think it is such a friendly
gesture that, in the long term it can
only encourage more visitors to
come to Darlington. I have visited
other towns where such generosity
is prevented by drivers having to
enter their registration details into
the ticket machine. This has always
struck me as very grasping
and I much prefer the approach in
Darlington and would like to thank
my anonymous benefactors."
■ If you want to say a public
thank you for good service or to a
helpful neighbour , kind stranger
or efficient business, then just
write with all the details to
Sharon Griffiths, Bouquet of the
Week, The Northern Echo,
Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF.
Or email sjgriff111@aol.com
Each week the person nominated
in our main letter gets a real
bouquet of flowers or a box of
posh chocs.
9:20am Friday 28th March 2008
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