An unpreposessing warehouse in a Cumbrian market town may sound an unlikely location for a crystal factory - after all, Stourbridge in the West Midlands is the traditional English home of its manufacture - but this outsized shed on the edge of Ulveston is home to Cumbria Crystal, the UK's last remaining producer of the hand-made, full lead, English variety. "Full lead crystal must contain 30% lead," explained the company's MD & creative director Katy Holford. "It does have its problems - its more likely to develop small faults, for example, which is why so many companies have now switched to the more forgiving "lead crystal," but full lead crystal cuts very well, has real weight and sparkles like nothing else." These qualities have not been lost on the people responsible for equipping the glass cabinets of Britain's embassies around the world or the prop buyers for ITV's hit costume drama Downton Abbey. The dining tables of Downton Abbey were set with Grasmere full lead crystal tableware. To read more on this great success story, please visit the press release page on Cumbria's website: www.cumbriacrystal.com/news-resources/press-releases/
