As the demand for paper grew, the city of Barcelona, one of the great Mediterranean ports and capital of Catalunya, became a major market for paper as well as a source of rags. The surrounding hinterland also provided the essential ingredients of pure spring water and waterpower necessary for making paper. Not surprisingly, over the centuries, many paper mills were erected and operated in the countryside surrounding Barcelona, including sixteen mills operating in the town of Capellades located some 60 kilometers northwest of the city. Early in 2011, I was surprised to receive an email inviting me to attend the twentieth-anniversary conference of the European Confederation of Conservator–Restorers (ECCO). I was a founding member of the group when I chaired the Institute of Paper Conservation, but I had been out of contact with ECCO for many years. This would have been temptation enough but the chance to revisit Barcelona in the springtime was irresistible. Another attraction for me was its proximity to the Museu Moli Paperer de Capellades, one of the best paper museums in Europe and indeed the world. I had previously visited in 1992 and had maintained contact with the museum director Victòria Rabal. Victòria is by background a fine artist and an art historian. She first visited the museum in 1982, twenty-nine years ago, when it initially struck her as rather damp and dreary. Somehow it captured her heart and she in turn has led many of the improvements in recent years. Victòria met me in Barcelona and we set out in her car. Barcelona lies at the edge of the delta of the Llobregat River which rises in the foothills of the Pyrenees some 100 miles to the northwest of the city. We followed the broad floodplain of the river upstream until we turned into the hills to follow a tributary, the Anoia River. To the right rose the unique Montserrat mountain range whose very unusual rounded columns Victòria took me to later. As the valley narrowed we passed a number of derelict paper mills. Over the years it has struck me that paper mills in southern Europe are usually different in appearance from those few surviving in England where the notable feature is the large area of vertically arranged, sliding wooden shutters that allow air to dry paper in the lofts. Here the mills are strongly built out of local stone with fairly small arched openings, closed by hinged wooden shutters. Perhaps this reflects the generally drier and warmer air than in England where every slight breeze counted in drying the paper. Sadly many of the old mills in Catalunya have not found a new use as apartments or offices and many seem doomed to crumble away. However we also passed mills which have been modernized and appear to be flourishing. Indeed a number of them are supporting the museum. Once in the small town of Capellades, we soon arrived outside of the Molí de la Vila (Village Mill) that now houses the museum. The mill was built in the eighteenth century and was enlarged during the nineteenth century. It stands below its mill pond, called the Bassa, which is about 20 feet deep and completely clear with a slight bluish tinge. It is supplied with 12 million liters of water a day, just over 3 million US gallons a day. The town is built on limestone which ensures that the water is acid free and slightly calcareous, the common feature of most of the fine European handmade paper mills. In the past the springs arising in the mill pond of One section of a detailed model of the papermill, showing the vat house. The model of the papermill made by Mr. Gomà, a papermill owner in La Riba, Tarragona, Spain. Bassa supplied all sixteen paper mills in Capellades which were known as the "Molins de la Costa." The area around the Bassa is now paved and available as an open space. There are plans to plant a papermaking garden in the future. Mills in and around Capellades supplied a large part of the Spanish and Latin American markets. As the older handmade paper mills went out of use, often becoming derelict, the continuing commercially viable machine-made paper companies determined to preserve a part of their history by setting up the Museum in 1958. At the time Molí de la Vila had been out of production since 1923. Parts of it were used as a primary school whilst other parts were empty. Agreement was reached with the Town Council of Capellades to rent the Molí de la Vila as a museum and working paper mill and the Museu Moli Paperer de Capellades was established with many donations of machinery and funding from the industry. The museum opened in 1961. Today it is run by a foundation under the auspices the Town Council of Capellades, the Association of Historical Paper-Making Studies, the Anoia District Council, and the Museum of Science and Technology of Catalunya. The museum's main exhibition, on the second floor, comprehensively covers the history of paper and papermaking worldwide and locally and the techniques involved. The exhibition also includes a variety of items of preserved machinery including moulds, presses, a rag duster, and papermakers' crosses (for hanging paper in the loft). There are also two remarkable models. One shows the main components of a mill, entirely made out of polished brass. It includes a waterwheel, stampers, a Hollander beater, a vat, and a press. The second model includes virtually all parts of a handmade paper mill, built by one of the papermakers out of wood, metal, and other materials. A handle is attached to the miniature waterwheel so that visitors can operate most of the moving equipment. Although it was a Wednesday in early April, the museum was busy with visitors, particularly school groups. On a typical day the museum hosts four or more parties. The museum only has eleven staff members, and they all rotate as museum guides. The ground floor, which is actually well below pond level, is devoted to production and demonstrations. One area has rag preparation equipment including a chopping block, cutting hurdle, and a pit for retting rags. An elongated annex once housed four small waterwheels about six feet in diameter. One is preserved and drives the glazing hammer although the other three (each of which drove a set of stampers) no longer exist. Within the main building two sets of stampers have been reconstructed. Each set comprises three stone tubs each containing three individual hammers. The three hammerheads are raised sequentially by wooden pegs projecting from the large wooden shaft and would have been driven directly by a waterwheel. Several old heads with iron teeth are displayed alongside. The stampers are no longer used for pulp preparation. A side room contains a relatively new Hollander beater. Its concrete tub can process up to 9 kilograms (20 pounds) of rags or pulp in each batch. There are several stone and plastic vats for sheet formation. A large wooden screw press is on display and there is a modern hydraulic steel press used for practical purposes. A vatman and a coucher handle all production including operating the beater and press. Apart from custom makes for printers and artists, they produce paper stock lines for special paper for art books and fine stationery. The museum's paper can be found at New York Central Art Supply and Hiromi Paper in Santa Monica, California. Clients include many Catalan artists such as Miquel Barceló, Jaume Plensa, Perejaume, Evru, Eugènia Balcells, and Ferran Adrià. The 2010 Nobel Literature Prize laureate Mario Vargas Llosa commissioned The vatman fits the deckle onto one mould while the coucher takes the second mould prior to transferring the wet sheet onto the felt. Note the stone construction of the vat. A few of the many thousands of school children that visit the museum every year. a special Capellades paper for his acceptance speech. Recently paper has been made with seeds incorporated in an attractive retail pack. Also on the ground floor is the hands-on demonstration area for visitors. When I was there, it was filled with squealing children dipping card-sized plastic moulds into small vats. I was particularly struck by the moulds, initially by their bright green color and then by their detailed construction. The type of plastic used is similar to that used for kitchen chopping boards and it can be cut, routed, and planed just like wood. The moulds are constructed just like traditional wooden ones but can stand up to a lot of bad handling! A local carpenter and millwright makes and repairs the moulds. He also maintains wooden waterwheels and occasionally builds new ones, a rare skill nowadays. The third floor of the museum is dedicated to more exhibition space; not only paper but related trades such as printing, and some additional space that could be used later when funds are available. Major improvements and repairs require fundraising but the museum meets eighty percent of its routine costs from sales of tickets, paper, and even fiber. Amongst its many supporting firms is Celesa, a specialist pulp mill in Tortosa in southern Catalunya. Celesa's mill was built in 1952 to make rice straw pulp but now it focuses on flax, hemp, sisal, and abaca pulps and has recently started processing jute. We used their Lincell A pulp at Hayle Mill from 1975 and its grades are known to many smallscale paper studios. The museum fulfills orders for those only wanting a few kilograms. The fourth floor houses a very extensive library, mostly donated by the industry, and an adjacent archives room. There is also a well-equipped research area and a conference suite. The fifth and final floor houses the huge drying loft. Most of this is now a clear space apart from a small drying area. As with all old mills, the roof is a constant challenge and in winter 2010 it was threatened by unusually heavy loads of wet snow. The open spaces within the building are used for a variety of art exhibitions and workshops. On our return to the city, we took a winding road around the Montserrat mountain chain that rises some 4,000 feet above the surrounding countryside. It is composed of a very unusual pink conglomerate rock and its serrated summit ridge (hence the name) features extraordinary and beautiful shapes, clothed in a riot of wildflowers. It was a wonderful sight in the setting sun. The Santa Maria de Montserrat Benedictine Abbey houses the famous Black Virgin of Montserrat and is home to the Escalania, one of the oldest boys' choirs in Europe. When in Barcelona a good end to the day is best celebrated with some excellent tapas and a St. Miguel beer in good company. I could reflect on a memorable visit and be grateful for another opportunity (never resisted) to form a few sheets in another mill. I can certainly recommend that you visit this fascinating museum. The author wishes to thank Victòria Rabal for her warm hospitality and her generous assistance in the preparation of this article.
