Threads of a Community: The Story of Kath Melot

As we conclude our Women’s History Month series, we turn to a woman whose story is quite literally woven into the fabric of Hitchin’s local history.

Kath Melot, now 100 years old, was born and raised in Hitchin and has spent her life deeply connected to the town she still calls home. Her story is one of family, creativity, community and business.

Kath was born an only child in Hitchin in 1924. Her father worked as a builder, but after the end of the Second World War, like many small businesses, his company struggled to survive amid material shortages and an uncertain economy.

Kath’s mother, known for her creativity and talent for handicrafts, saw an opportunity. She rallied the women from her local church group and began organising small-scale production of handmade lampshades, knitted goods, and craft items, using whatever materials they could get hold of.

In the early 1950s, Kath’s parents took a leap and opened a haberdashery shop "Homecrafts" in Church Yard, right in the heart of Hitchin. It quickly became a popular destination for locals, selling knitting wool, tapestry materials, basket-making cane, lampshade frames, and all kinds of crafting supplies.

When Kath’s daughter started school, she joined her parents in the shop part-time, eventually becoming a key figure in the day-to-day running of the business.

As the shop thrived, they expanded into another premises nearby—this one dedicated entirely to knitting wool, a material in high demand at the time. 

Sadly, after her mother passed away from cancer, Kath and her father continued the business, scaling it back to the original shop. She remained at the helm for many years, witnessing dramatic shifts in consumer habits as crafts began to decline in popularity with the rise of television and cheap imported materials.

Still, she stayed committed to the trade, offering expert advice, personal service, and genuine connection to every customer who walked through the door. Her reputation for kindness and attentiveness left a lasting impression on generations of Hitchin residents.

Even today, many speak fondly of "Kath’s shop", remembering it not only as a place to buy wool and thread, but as a warm, familiar space where care and conversation came freely.

In a full-circle moment, that very location is once again a yarn shop today, after many incarnations in between. And now, with a growing interest in slow living, sustainability, and handcrafting, the very skills that defined Kath’s livelihood—sewing, knitting, and making things by hand—are experiencing a revival.

After she retired, it wasn’t the work Kath missed—it was the people. But retirement gave her more time to return to her own handicraft hobbies and her love of gardening, continuing the creative legacy she had nurtured for so many decades.

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