Textile and Industrial Heritage - Peacock and Sons

Mary Mawson also stitched the image of Peacock's building. She asked the Peacock family if they would sponsor the pieces on the Textile panel and they were happy to do so.

When we had workshops or 'get togethers' at the Tapestry (first at Kate's home, then Armley Mills and latterly at Holy Trinity) the stitchers would happily talk about their jobs in the textile industry before the 1980s. Mary recalled that the Peacock family treated their employees very fairly. Before the advent of state pensions one man was kept on, well passed retirement,  to open the back door. She said that it wasn't really a job, but it gave that person not only a small income but also a purpose.

It's a real pity that we don't have recordings of some of the reminiscences shared while we sat and stitched. I think possibly that there are some videos taken by Antonia Lovelace, Curator of World Culture at Leeds Museums Service, but they were only shot during stitching together the last panel, Arts for All.

The piece was produced using the counted threadwork technique of blackwork and was charted by Hazel Rand.

Textile and Industrial Heritage - Peacock's Shop

I've been challenged to find an embroidery on the Tapestry to link with the Exhibition currently on show at Temple Newsam. This bedstead for 18/9 (that's about 94 pence in "new money") hardly compares with the magnificent, newly reinstated,  Queen Anne State Bed but if you visit the present exhibition there are some more lowly servants beds displayed, with interpretation panels, around the House.

It's apparently National Bed Month and to celebrate this:

Bedtime Stories: Temple Newsam is celebrating National Bed Month by having a special talk every Wednesday
Weds, 28th March (11am to 12pm)
Come along and find out about historical beds and bedrooms with stories about the beds at Temple Newsam House, including the Queen Anne State bed.  Booking is recommended, contact (0113) 264 7321.

There doesn't seem to be much information on the web about the forthcoming events  of Temple Newsam's Bedfest but Textile Hunter has gleaned more about it than any other.

Back to the story of Peacock's. Founded in 1849, Peacock's shop was on the corner of the Headrow and Park Row until 1977, when it moved to its factory site at Kirkstall Bridge Mills. In 1981 the firm were taken over by Durastic Ltd.

Mary Mawson, who hand stitched this piece, was employed in the curtain workshop of the firm for 26 years.

Faith in the City - St Paul's, Ireland Wood

St. Paul's is a relatively modern and distinctive church building. Built in 1965 it is eight-sided with a crowning cupula containing the bell and was designed by Geoffrey Davy of Kitson, Parish, Legard & Pyman. It stands just below the highest point of the City of Leeds.

Mary Mawson (7 March 1917-March 2004)
Mary worked on every panel except the last which was put together during the last 2 years of her life. She joined us in 1993 and almost immediately became a great enthusiast. She felt her ambition to go to Art School was met to a great extent by participating in the workshops, master classes and skill-sharing sessions which were part of the process of making the tapestry.
Always full of courage, creativity and initiative she was never phased by the challenge of a difficult piece of work. She was also tireless in spreading the word about the Tapestry and persuaded her former employer, Peacocks, to sponsor the Textile and Industrial Heritage panel. She also raised funds for Ireland Wood and Adel churches to appear on the Faith panel.
She was a very familiar face at the group sessions where we stitched the embroidered sections onto the backcloth - travelling first to the workshops at Kate's house, then to Armley Mills and finally to Holy Trinity Church on Boar Lane where the majority of the Panels were completed. Mary hand stitched this piece using long and short stitch with french knots.