By Harry Mottram: Residents viewed the new Axbridge Heritage Trail textile hanging displayed in the town hall at the weekend during a coffee morning to raise cash to house the artwork. The response was overwhelmingly positive as locals inspected the intricate details of the creation from delicate butterflies to the famous buildings of the town beautifully recreated at the point of a needle.

The coffee morning held in Axbridge Town Hall on Saturday, February 1st, 2025, helped to raise more than £680 towards housing the hanging in the heritage area of the parish church. Recreated in a mixture of applique and embroidery the artwork measuring over two metres long and one metre high is a celebration of the needlework skills of the eleven women who have stitched the details of the trail onto a fine piece of woven woollen fabric.

Margaret Cowie has been the driving force behind the project

King John’s Hunting Lodge, the ceiling in St John The Baptist parish church, the Old Drug Store and even the former the police station have all been illustrated at the point of a needle. The eleven women behind the project led by Margaret Cowie of Axbridge were on hand to explain the process and as to what happens next. Mrs Cowie said that it will cost about £1,000 to house and frame the textile creation displayed on a fine piece of woven woollen fabric but with grant applications and the coffee morning the figure has been achieved ensuring the project has been a success.

Reactions were overwhelmingly positive from residents in the town hall with comments posted online in support. One person wrote: “Well done Ladies for The Axbridge Stitching Group for putting in a wonderful coffee and cake morning. Hope you’ve achieved your target.” While another resident penned: “Hats off” to all those involved.” Others noted, ‘Awesome job’, ‘Absolutely wonderful – talented people’ and ‘It’s beautiful.’

The eleven women behind the project are:  Margaret Cowie, Tara Lifton,  Stephanie Teychenne Gall, Lynn Howes, Pam Ryan, Judith Strange,  Barbara Wells, Sue Rushworth, Sally Batt, Tricia Clark and Wendy Kirk. Margaret Cowie said: “We are so grateful for all those who came on Saturday to the town hall on Farmers’ Market Day to support the event and also to the two people who made generous donations to ensure the amount of cash was raised to display the textile hanging in the church.”

She said it was a team effort and had helped to celebrate the town’s history using needlework skills.

For more details about the Axbridge Heritage Trail visit https://axbridgeheritagetrails.com/