G & JM Butterworth

11/09/2022

Alasdair North as badgesmith2022 has taken over our business!

Hot foil stamped badges with colouring by hand.

11/09/2022

After 50 years its time to pass the business on. Thank you to all our customers past and present. We are happy to say the business in in safe hands and the tradition will continue!

Gearge says "I was introduced to leatherwork and folk music around the same time in 1972. I went to numerous folk clubs in the Manchester area and made instrument straps and belts for friends and several musicians including the Spinners, Houghton Weavers and Mike Harding.
One of the first badges I made was for one of my favourite folk clubs, the Ring O’Bells in Middleton. Then people started to ask for badges for their folk club or morris dancing team especially when I had a stall at various folk festivals.
Initially I made the badges by using an old ballpoint pen which had run out of ink to emboss the design in the leather. I then used technical pens to ink these lines in and then hand coloured using dyes and small brushes. Although they took a long time I found the work quite therapeutic.
When I acquired a mortgage and children came along the necessity to earn more money drove me to find quicker ways to make badge production quicker in order to keep up with increasing orders. I innovated over the years using hotfoil printers, embossing plates and colour transfer printing, although they are still largely handmade.
Over the years I have made over 600 different badges to the extent that the badges have been adopted as part of the tradition as part of kit and are a major fundraiser for teams and events.
Now 50 years on it is time to pass on the tradition of making the badges. My friend Alasdair North has taken over the business and will be continuing as normal. I will be in the background giving support and guidance for continuity. Any enquiries coming to me will be passed on and Alasdair can be contacted at [email protected] or at 07710198836"

08/01/2022

Morris sides seem to be awakening. We are still making badges but are slowing down a bit these days as we like getting out to enjoy music when we can and also taming our garden.

08/09/2019

Birthday battle with St George and tunes in the pub

08/09/2019

Chatting mandolins with his boss from the old days. It’s been a lovely few days getting out and meeting old friends. This is what we’re aiming to do more of.

07/09/2019

George doing what he loves - playing mandolin.

07/09/2019

All is good with my world - peaceful view and a cup of coffee! We’re off to catch some music soon.

06/09/2019

Winging our way to Settle today. At last! A chance to enjoy some music and have a right good chin wag!

29/08/2019

Is anyone we deal with going to Settle next week? George will be there with his mandolin if you want to say hello.

11/08/2019

George has just finished work for the day - the pressure is on for rushcart badges to be finished. I would show a pic but they are secret lol.

16/06/2019

Although George is now getting his pension he isn’t giving up working. This time of year is incredibly busy with existing orders and the badges are essentially handmade - he can’t make them any quicker. If you are looking for new badges please start the process in the winter as he can’t take on new work in summer as he has a lot of repeat orders from existing customers.