A Celebration of Landscape

Lyme Park, Disley, Cheshire

We are delighted to share the news that our quilt 'A Bomber's Moon', is currently on exhibition at Lyme Park, Cheshire as part of their Winter Exhibition, Lymescapes. 

The exhibition runs at the weekends, Sat 7th Nov - Sun 14th Feb 2016 also Monday 28th Dec and Fri 1st Jan. 11am- last entry 3pm. Free to National Trust members or £4 per adult.

arthur+martha artist Lois Blackburn, will be an artist in residence at Lyme Park Sunday 6th December.

'A Bomber's Moon at Lyme Park'

 

Stitching the Wars, is a collaboration between older people in Derbyshire and the arts organisation arthur+martha CIC, creating two quilts and poetry from their reminiscences rich with experience and feeling.  Our first quilt , ‘A Bombers Moon’, investigates the effect the 1^st and 2^nd World Wars had on the Derbyshire countryside and the people living on land.  

‘A Bombers Moon’ replicates an aerial view of fields and hillsides. Into this "landscape" are sewn key words and phrases that link to reminiscence and poems. Much of this quilt was made by groups including  people who have dementia and we couldn't fail to notice the beneficial effect that group stitching had, joining people together in a shared act of making that had short-term rewards (touch, colour, companionship, creativity) and an ambitious goal. This quilt project was recently given a Foundation Derbyshire Award for its mixture of inclusivity and creative ambition.

Stitching the Wars is resulting in a lasting legacy for everyone involved, a unique way of sharing and passing on older peoples histories. The quilts and poems act as celebration of lives lived, an act of community remembrance.

The Poem ‘A Bomber’s Moon’ runs around the edge

Bomber’s moon

Midnight, a bombers moon is

a full moon for seeing.

You’re tucked away, no messing about

feather bed in those days

goose feather, duck down

blanket an army coat

long bloody nights

when it was cold

The moon’s up, owls about

rats rattling in the long roof

under the slates, you can see stars in the gaps

brown paper under the sheets to soak up damp

sheep lice keep you warm, with  your itching

Midwife arrives

my brother Harry, my sister Aletia

a horrible winter

looking after sick children we light a fire

boiling water when my son had the croup.

Stoke the fire

water and salt, do your best

In memory

a gap in the clouds

all the bombers in formation

the Thousand Bomber Raid.

I well remember, small cloud banks,

a gap

all those bombers going,

quite slowly

to Germany.

Group poem, Social Group

The Farming Life Centre

Funding, support and partners: The Arts Council England, Derbyshire Community Foundation, Derbyshire Dales Council, Derbyshire County Council, Farming Life Centre, Age UK, The Alzheimer’s Society, New Mills Volunteer Centre and The Quilters Guild of Great Britain.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lyme-park-house-and-garden/features/lymescapes-a-celebrationof-the-landscape