Home » Art

Salford knitters campaign for Bridgewater Canal

By on in Art

A LOCAL knitting group have created a Salford knitters campaign and gathered at Media City UK on 23rd November in aid of the Bridegwater Canal.

The group, Salford Knits, set up tent alongside Salford Quays and spent 6 hours knitting and speaking to the public about their involvement in the regeneration of the Bridgewater canal.

Examples of other items Salford Knits create

This group of ladies have spent 2 years on two major schemes  #Swingiest and #Floatiest in support of restoring and caring for the canal which is 250 years old.

The group of knitters consists of Veronica Le Cheminant, Marilyn Rabbitt, Mary Pickup and Chris Johnson, their main reason for contributing to both of these schemes is too inform people about the heritage of the canal.

#Floatiest is a fairly new scheme involving the Bridegwater canal  and #Swingiest aims to save the swinging bridge at the Barton Aqueduct.

For Bridgewater Canal Timeline CLICK HERE

Both 4 foot structures have been displayed alongside the canal, they contain 2,000 knitted and crochet squares.

Salford Knits, which is part of EST.1761 meet every Friday at Smiths restaurant in Eccles to collaborate ideas. Using their skills of knitting to promote the preservation of Bridgewater canal and getting involved in charity work across Manchester and Salford.

To Visit EST.1761 website CLICK HERE 

#Floatiest which has been created in aid of Bridegwater Canal

Councillor David Lancaster emphasised: ” I think stone masons who worked on the Bridgewater Canal over 250 years ago would be delighted to see their marks inspiring modern day knitters.”

The Salford section of the canal is undergoing a £5.5 million transformation with funding from the Heritage lottery fund and Salford City Council.

Salford Knits they have made over 1,000 items for numerous charities including The Alzheimer society.

Manchester Children’s Hospital

Working with The Manchester Children’s Hospital to make hats for premature babies, they have also collaborated to knit scarves and hats for the homeless across Manchester and Salford.

They also dedicate their time to knitting small owls named ‘ Worry monsters’ for children who have experienced a trauma and so find it difficult to communicate. The children write down what is distressing them and place it in the owls beak and once they are ready to speak about it they remove the piece of paper.

Salford knits rely heavily on donations and grants in terms of buying materials and carrying out these schemes and visits. For example , Eccles rotary provide funding for the wool that they use.

Alongside these schemes recently carried out, these local knitters have collaborated a knitting book with artist and expert knitter Rachael Elwell ‘ Make your Marks’ which can be found in any Salford library.

 

Tags:

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *