September 21st, 2011.
This weekend Eastbourne’s Napoleonic Fortress is throwing open its gates and inviting visitors to take a look at The Story Sew Far, a free event showcasing the work of the Stitch for Victory Community Project.
This Saturday, 24 September, will offer visitors the chance to get hands on themselves and discover the significant contribution that needlework made to lives during World War Two with a range of activities taking place. Visitors will also be able to enjoy live performances and view some of the work that has already been created.
On Saturday the Redoubt Fortress will be joined by special guest Olga Henderson, who was one of a group of young girls who endured appalling conditions in the Changi Internment Prison during the Second World War. While at the prison Olga helped stitch the Changi Girl Guide Quilt, which inspired the other women internees to make their own quilts, which included stitched messages of hope for the men in the prison’s military hospital. The quilts and Olga’s memories have inspired the primary school project included in The Story Sew Far.
Pupils from Tollgate, Stafford and West Rise Junior Schools have hand embroidered their messages in their own piece of the patchwork quilt, which was sewn together by the pupils, Olga and the Women’s Land Army, as part of the community project that aims to capture the hidden history of the wartime stitch through a range of heritage activities.
Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Member for Tourism and Leisure Cllr Neil Stanley said “The Stitch for Victory Community Project is a truly inspiring initiative, not only offering visitors and residents the chance to find out first hand the important role that stitching made during the Second World War, but also giving us the chance to meet and hear from Olga, a fantastic inspiration”.
“This year’s Stitch for Victory exhibition has really caught the imagination of all visitors to the Redoubt giving an insight into an unusual angle of life during this historic period. The Heritage Lottery Funding has meant that we can create a brilliant community project and deliver a wide range of activities involving visitors and residents.”
Living history re-enactors will recreate a 1940s Home Front atmosphere throughout the day on Saturday and visitors will be able to have a go at making felt purses from old wool jumpers, discover how to knit with an old cotton reel and needle, and perfect their skills of mending socks using a darning mushroom. Members of the Knit for Victory group will also be busy knitting squares to make blankets, which will be donated to The Chaseley Trust.
Representatives from the Women’s Land Army will talk to visitors about their experiences and involvement in the Stitch for Victory community project and there will be objects used during the Second World War available for people to handle.
Primary School pupils will present a recycled community rag rug inspired by those in the Stitch For Victory exhibition, which were made by those taking cover in air raid shelters. Makers from the Blackboys Rug Hookers will be on hand to demonstrate how the craft works, while secondary school pupils will put on performances inspired by memories from the Second World War.
On the day visitors will also have the opportunity to take a look at the main Stitch for Victory exhibition exploring the significance of stitching to life on the Home Front, life in the factories and life on the front line.
For more information on what’s coming up at the Redoubt this weekend go to the Eastbourne Museums website or call 01323 410300.
