Wednesday's meeting was as informative as ever.There was a brief management meeting before hand to discuss plans for a public talk to be held at St Mary's next year and a discussion on the Glass Umbrella HLF bid. The main conclusion concerning the market was that making the Produce Hall more spacious had really spoilt the Produce Market and the same shouldn't happen in the Covered Market.
For the members meeting, Sarah Cotton of SMBC gave a power point presentation on the Staircase House Stitchers project. There are now over 50 stitchers, including 3 men. We learnt that some of the larger items such as curtains for the Trust's tester bed may take several years each to stitch but that there are a number of smaller items that will also be developed. Frank Galvin (SMBC) showed us the stag he had embroidered.
We agreed that it would be good if Bramall Hall also had a group of stitchers, but we would want to be a separate group with its own identity, rather than expand the remit of the existing Staircase House group.
One dissappointment was that stitchers will not working in the exhibition rooms of the House wearing period costume. This would have added a lot of character to the House. Unfortunately the rooms are not light enough. I suppose damaging eyesight is one step to authenticity too far.
Then followed the quiz organised by Kevin and Coral Dranfield. As well questions on people and places, there was the challenge to identify period pieces including some on loan from Stockport Community Services. A few are shown here. If you want to guess what they are, then leave a comment and I will reveal the answers later.
