The Longest Yarn
On 9th September, the UK launch of the D-Day exhibition “The Longest Yarn” took place at Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire, and the Immediate Past Master, Air Cdre Paul Nash, and his Consort Sue were invited to attend along with a number of other military and civil dignitaries.
The Worshipful Company of Plumbers’s link to Southwell Minster goes back over a century, when Past Master WD Caroe (Master 1905-1907 and 1913-1919), the renowned ecclesiastical architect, designed the organ case, the WW1 memorial, and the choir pulpit in the Minster. We visited the Minster in 2023 during Paul Nash’s Master’s Four Counties Weekend Break.
Also amongst the attendees was Piper John Millin, son of Piper Bill Millin, who famously walked up and down Sword Beach under fire playing the bagpipes to encourage the British troops.
The Longest Yarn is an 80 metre (yes, 80 metres!) knitted tableau depicting the whole story of the D-Day landings, consisting of 80 individual one-metre scenes showing how the landings were planned and executed: it is stunning!
Originally on show in Normandy for the D-Day 80th Anniversary, it will be on show at Southwell Minster until 27th September 2024, and will then go on tour round the UK before moving to the USA. The current UK tour dates and planned venues are on its website, some of which may change, so if you do want to see it, do check it before hand: thelongestyarn.com
Below are some of the individual tableaux: the pictures really don’t do them justice, so try to go if you can:
Above, the little girl in blue to the left is still alive, aged 93.
IPM Paul Nash