The proposal to turn Witney’s Blanket Hall into a museum celebrating the town’s links with the textile trade is an excellent idea.

Witney has a long and illustrious history of blanket-making.

The blankets were highly desirable because of their warmth and water-repelling qualities According to experts, it is likely that sailors in Lord Nelson’s Navy at the Battle of Trafalgar and American cowboys slept under blankets that originated from the town.

The Duke of Wellington’s armies fought their way across Europe with Witney blankets in their packs and this tradition of supplying the armed forces continued into the Second World War.

This rich part of Witney’s heritage must be celebrated, which is why we welcome the plan to give the building a new lease of life after it was so generously passed into the hands of a trust by the late Brian Crawford.

The former managing director of Early’s the last of the town’s blanket-makers, wanted to see the building that he had made his home reconnected with the blanket trade in some way.

The museum will give visitors the chance to find out about a product that made the name of Witney synonymous with quality across the world.

But it is important that the proposed museum complements, and does not hinder, the good work of the Witney & District Museum, which has done much to tell the story of the town’s textile trade.