Millennium Tapestry

Another significant event in the Burton Bradstock Millennium Year was the unveiling of the Millennium Tapestry on Wednesday 12^th January in the village library.

The ceremony was hosted by Ian Lewis, Head of Libraries and Arts for Dorset County Council and introduced by Bryan Evans who manages the libraries in West Dorset. He opened by commenting that the library, which retaining much of the character of the chapel from which it was converted , provides a splendid setting for the permanent display of this beautiful piece of work. He then introduced various groups which had played some part in the production of the tapestry; The Parish Council, the Millennium Committee and the Tapestry Committee.

Justin Mallinson, chairman of the Millenium Committee, talked of the events leading to the formation of Tapestry Committee, the considerable efforts of those enthusiasts in bringing it into being and the time and cost involved. He also took the opportunity to review the events of Burton’s Millennium year. The New Year’s Eve clifftop bonfire and fireworks had gone well with Hannah Fearon putting light to the blaze at dusk. There were a large number of revellers at the green at midnight to enjoy the Colbert mulled wine in the W.I. Hall and sing Auld Lang Syne with the skirl of the pipes as Norman Thompson lit the beacon.

The attractively designed celebration B.B. mugs were now on sale (price £2-50 ) and had been given free to all the pupils at the school. He looked forward to the week in the summer when the marquee on the playing field would be the venue for a programme of different celebration activities, starting with a service on Sunday 7^th July.

Doreen Crawford, chairwoman of the Tapestry Committee, gave an account of how every body had pulled together to make the tapestry, especially her committee of Diana Edwards, Celia Cummins, Gill Robertson and Val Parsons. She was grateful to all the artists who had painted the scenes around the village, to Chris Wilkinson who had done the computer work needed to convert these pictures into the detailed instructions needed and produced the archive record of the making, to those who had so painstakingly stitched the individual views, to the many who had helped with the background and put in the odd stitch and to the children who had worked so well on the school picture.

She unveiled the tapestry to much applause and it looks splendid surrounded by a moulded gold frame incorporating rope to symbolise the village’s early and long association with the rope making. It is truly a magnificent work of art.