Making paper

Our trip this afternoon was to Couze on the edge of the Dordogne. There there was a 15th century paper mill that used to be one of 13 on a 1 Km stretch of the river. Here they collected rags with were shredded then pulped and, with a soupçon of glue, turned into paper.

We saw the prices of watermarking, of taking the pulp and turning it into paper ( the shape for making an envelope looks like a lantern); how they pressed it and then drown it, often 5 layers deep. The final product was sent down the Dordogne, much of it to the Netherlands where the less strict censure ip laws led to a boom in printing there.

The capacity of the rags to paper machines could not keep up and the old system was replaced by a Dutch invention which was much more efficient. Then came the continuous paper production which this set of pulleys and wheels used to operate.

We learned of how the Chinese productions methods had been acquired my the Arabs who dominated the southern Mediterranean and had then been adapted by the Italians.

A major step forward was the invention - here- of the paper filter which became so important in the industrial and chemical world. U until the end of the last century this mill was still producing such filters.

Now it is a museum where you have the chance to make your own sheets, impregnated with leaves and seeds, coloured confetti, or whatever you like. The addition of a little glue makes all the difference as to whether you produce blotting paper or paper for writing or printing.

A fascinating and enjoyable visit.