Incredible embroideries tell Linlithgow High Street's story from the 1950s

Now imagine you’re a pensioner in your seventies, with you and your hubby having to shield to ensure against catching the dreaded coronavirus.

That’s the position Christine Anderson from Linlithgow found herself in.

The 76-year-old pensioner is far from inactive; prior to lockdown, she was regularly to be found helping out in her daughter’s Purely Patchwork shop in the town, covering while Esther took classes and sewing up material samples into the likes of cushions to display in the window.

Of course, all that stopped as stores were closed and people were told to stay at home. That left Christine at a bit of a loose end but her hands weren’t idle for long.

For she struck upon a unique project to keep herself busy – inspired by a bird’s eye view of the town’s high street depicted in an 1820s sepia map.

Christine decided she’d create an embroidery of the building she stayed in when she was a wee girl at 130 High Street, owned by her great-great grandfather Peter Clark whose business, as a canner for the town’s shoe industry, was depicted on that 1820s map.

It had been some time since she’d tried her hand at embroidery; Christine is more renowned for her sewing machine skills, having won the Madeira Rosebowl at the Royal Highland Show 20 years ago.

However, with the aid of old pictures, she had soon created a 1950s depiction of her old home using brown stitching on calico.

As lockdown continued, and friends heard what she was up to, she was inundated with images of the High Street from the 1950s and decided to keep her hands busy by taking on the whole street!

She ultimately created six panels, measuring 200cm by 70cm, showing the High Street, all of its businesses and tenements – as it looked in the 1950s.

Christine said: “It all started with me just doing the block that our tenement was in at 130 High Street but it ended up with me doing the whole street, from the West Port right down to the Black Bitch, taking in the likes of Nobel’s Explosives, the cinema and Victoria Halls.

"Each building is about four inches high and I used old photographs to make sure all the windows were in the right place. It was quite tricky with something like the Victoria Halls which had turrets but it kept me busy!”

It took Christine around three to four months to complete each panel, depending on its intricacies.

As lockdown measures started to ease, Christine decided to show off her handiwork to fellow members of the Linlithgow Class of 1951 group, who meet regularly for reunion lunches.

It went down a storm with her friends, including fellow group member and former councillor Tom Kerr.

Christine recalled: “Tom was all for taking it and hanging it up in the Burgh Halls right away!”

Instead, a group formed to help ensure that Christine’s handiwork would be seen by a wider audience – as everyone who viewed the panels fell in love with them.

Linlithgow Civic Trust, One Linlithgow (BID), the town’s Community Development Trust and councillors got together with Christine to decide the way forward.

The town’s museum also got on board, recording many of Christine’s friends discussing the panels and the memories they sparked from the 1950s.

Today (Friday) and tomorrow (February 24 and 25), the panels will go on display to the public for the first time at Linlithgow Museum, with free entry from 10am to 4pm.

It will also see the launch of a £20,000 fundraising campaign to get the panels properly mounted and framed to go on permanent display in the Partnership Centre.

Explaining that process, Linlithgow Civic Trust convener Marilyne MacLaren said: “Everyone who’s already seen the panels has fallen in love with them so we want to make sure they are properly mounted – easier said than done!

"I eventually had to get in touch with the V&A in Dundee as we had so many different opinions.

"They put me in touch with Scottish textiles expert Tuula Pardoe at The Scottish Conservation Studio at Hopetoun House.”

The panels will need to be mounted on special board to make sure no chemicals react with the calico and a specialist framer in Edinburgh will need to mount them – hence the £20,000 fundraising campaign.

Marilyne added: “These embroideries are unique – a slice of Linlithgow’s social history. We very much hope that the community will come and view them next week and support our fundraising campaign.”

Christine is delighted that her work has captured the imagination of so many and is looking forward to explaining her processes at the museum today and tomorrow.

She added: “They seem to spark people’s memories; I’m looking forward to hearing even more stories at the museum.”