Luxury Handmade Beds, Are They Worth It?

My father worked at Heal's in the early 1970s, when it still made its own handmade beds. When that factory closed, he set out to make an equal. Whether a handmade bed is worth it is your decision, but this is the story behind ours, told in his words.

• William Woods worked for Heal and Son in the early 1970s, when it was still a family business.
• Heal's had its own factory making handmade beds of different qualities, and that factory later closed.
• Woods set out to make beds equal to the ones Heal's made.
• My father had the Heal's ticking copied. It is called Empire Stripe and is made especially for Woods in Belgium.
• In my father's time at Heal's, Princess Margaret tried the beds in the showroom and the Everly Brothers bought one.
• The Woods family has been associated with fine linen since 1733, and our Harrogate shop has traded since 1895.

Where did my father learn about beds?

It started at Heal's:

"Part of my training, as well as working in factories in Northern Ireland, I was very privileged to work for Heal and Son when it was a family business that belonged to the Heal family. I was a great admirer of Ambrose Heal, and to work at Heal's in the early 70s was really an honour. My boss was a man called Robin Hartley, who knew more about beds than anybody in the United Kingdom."

Heal's made its beds in its own factory:

"Heal's at that time had their own factory making handmade beds of all kinds of different qualities, and a good friend of mine was the factory manager, Fred Wheeler, and he's long gone now, of course, but Heal's produce the best beds in the world, and it was a tragedy when their factory closed down."

Who was buying a Heal's bed?

"I remember on one occasion, Princess Margaret came into the showroom and was bouncing about on Heal's beds, which I thought was quite amusing, and then shortly after that, the Everly Brothers, if you remember the Everly Brothers, they came in and bought a Heal's bed, so it had great notoriety, and they were the best beds in the world."

Why did my father set out to match them?

When the Heal's factory closed, he made up his mind:

"So as I say, they closed down, and because of that, I was determined that we could reproduce beds as an equal to Heal's beds."

Even the ticking follows Heal's:

"I've even had the cotton ticking made, this was a copy of the Heal's ticking, it's called Empire Stripe, and it's made especially for us in Belgium."

So, are they worth it ?

My father's answer comes in two parts:

"So really, you're buying a bed for life."

"I think this is as good as any bed on the market in the world today. It's not cheap, because it is all handmade, but I think it's a wonderful bed."

Our handmade beds include the Woods Bramham Handmade Bed, the Woods Studley Handmade Bed and the Woods Finest Handmade Bed with Topper. Each has its own page in the handmade beds collection, where it is described in full. Our two catalogues, and news of our events, go to members of the Heritage Partnership, our mailing list.