ORGANISERS of a reunion of former workers of a Kidderminster carpet firm were astonished by the response as 200 people turned up.

The event was a first, as ex-employees of the business known at various times as Carpet Trades and Gilt Edge were invited to meet up and talk about the old days and what they had done since then.

It was organised by the Friends of the Carpet Museum Trust and held at the Gilt Edge Leisure Centre in Oldington, Kidderminster, on Wednesday last week.

A presentation was made to the oldest person attending - 90-year-old Gladys Ball - who started in the spool Axminster weaving shed in 1929. She was accompanied by other members of the Ball family, who had also worked for the company, as was typical in the heyday of the industry.

Not far behind her in age was Arthur Pagett, 89, whose son, also named Arthur, went to the reunion. Mr Pagett senior joined the business in 1930, becoming a Wilton weaver, while the younger Arthur was a Wilton tuner.

Another former employee, Lizzie - Bett - Lawrence recounted how she had lived at the company's premises, in the old gatekeeper's house, which had a bedroom over the "picture window" that had been a Mill Street landmark before it was demolished in 1962.

Nostalgia was the watchword on the night, as people took along their own photographs from their working days, as well as documents from the period and even carpet samples.

A 1960s film of the firm, which was based in Mill Street, was shown and the former workers were able to view an exhibition of artefacts belonging to the Carpet Museum Trust, including old copies of The Gilt Edge News.

Melvyn Thompson, chairman of the Friends, said: "With the buzz of conversation and excitement, the atmosphere was electric.

"If only some of it could have been bottled, the Carpet Museum Trust could have made a fortune.

"It was, by far, the best event that the Friends of the Carpet Museum Trust have organised," Mr Thompson added.