The Longest Yarn II: Britain at War opened at the cathedral on Wednesday morning (June 3) and is the much-anticipated sequel to The Longest Yarn, which drew large crowds last year.
The exhibition features a a powerful and deeply human retelling of the Second World War through handcrafted knitting and crochet; told through 80 intricately created panels of “wool art”, each one metre in length.
These tell stories of life in Britain from the declaration of war on September 3, 1939 through to VE Day on 8th May 1945, not only the battles fought, but the lives lived at home. They include: the King’s Speech, the Blitz, evacuation, D-Day, the bombing of cities, rationing, the Home Guard, the Women’s Land Army.
Every panel captures an episode of national memory, rendered in remarkable detail through knitting and crochet.
Accompanying the panels are ‘The Gang’, eight life-size figures representing the people whose courage sustained Britain during the war, from a Land girl to a Spitfire pilot. Many of these figures represent real people and their likeness has been recreated with the help of surviving family members.
All visitors are welcomed into the exhibition by an extraordinary ‘Poppy Drops’ hung from the upper levels. Each panel of ‘The Curtain of Poppies’ has been created by a local group.
The 5m x 1m panels each have at least 1,800 flowers (each taking 20 minutes to make). Over 650 hours of work has gone into the poppy curtains alone.
Every flower within the cascade carries meaning:
- Red poppies for remembrance.
- Blue cornflowers for France.
- White carnations and marguerites for Belgium and the Netherlands.
- Allied flags woven throughout for all the nations who stood together.
- Purple poppies for the animals of war.
- Yellow poppies for the Canary Girls who worked in the munitions factories.
- Forget-me-nots remembering the ordinary German people caught in the tragedy of war.
The Very Reverend Chris Dalliston, Dean of Peterborough said: “The amazing popularity of The Longest Yarn was a testimony to the creativity and skill of the many extraordinary people involved in its creation, as well as the ways in which it honoured those men and women whose service and sacrifice in time of war it commemorated.
"We so look forward to welcoming The Longest Yarn II: Britain at War and the many visitors who I’m sure will find encouragement and renewed inspiration from this exhibition.”
Lindy Kirk, one of the many contributors to the exhibition said: “It is absolutely incredible.
“The chance to wander around and see everyone else’s work, the level of detail in there and how everything is put together while meaning so much to the people that put them together.
"The Cathedral is an ideal place for this.”
Timed tickets are live on the Peterborough Cathedral website: https://peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/event/tickets-coming-soon-the-longest-yarn-ii-britain-at-war/.
