Spinning The Strands That Unite The Empire. In the little Cotswold village of Laverton, Worcs, young Joan James spins wool on a spinning wheel that once belonged to the late Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi spent many years of his life striving to popularize cottage spinning in India, and on his sixth-third birthday, Indian student presented him with the spinning wheel that Joan is using today. The wool Joan and her friends are spinning was sent by the children of Laverton Victoria, Australia, to this English centre of the ancient wool industry, the history of which goes back to Tudor times. Almost every man, woman and child of Laverton Village can spin and weave just like their famous ancestors. The village is named from the ancient English family of Laverton, who were wool-staplers, and a member of that family still lives today. England. 28 June 1950.