Around 200 people gathered to see a film and the unveiling of the second Criccieth Tapestry.

At Criccieth Memorial Hall on Saturday, 25 March, the multi-media work measuring over four meters long and depicting buildings in Mill Street and Castle Street was unveiled.

The tapestry includes crochet, knitting, rugging and embroidery techniques, and is the result of 10 months’ work by 22 volunteers. It follows on from the first tapestry of Marine Terrace, was unveiled for the centenary of Criccieth Memorial Hall last summer. It is part of Criccieth Town Council’s creative community work under the banner of Cricieth Creadigol-Creative Criccieth, which has received national recognition with a Creative Lives Award in 2021 and a shortlisting for the 2022 awards.

MP Liz Saville Roberts who was in attendance said: “It’s a pleasure to be here to celebrate the unveiling of yet another creative community masterpiece.

“The creative elements promoted by the town council are many and varied including handicraft, art, composition, performance, photography and gardening.

“It is inspired by the concept of place-making to strengthen the connection between people and the places they share, to celebrate the history and heritage of the town, to contribute towards community vitality while also improving the quality of life by engaging with residents and spreading messages of friendship and kindness.

“Many of the projects are in partnership and involve a large number of voluntary associations, local schools, Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor, individual artists and refugees from Ukraine.

“This was a celebration of the completion of the second piece of the Criccieth tapestry and the showing of a film about its making, but it also provided an opportunity to see other pieces of creative work such as Criccieth’s Gown of Poppies which was displayed at the Senedd in Cardiff last November to coincide with the annual Remembrance commemorations.”

Cllr Sian Williams, Criccieth Town Council chair, said: “It’s fantastic to see such a great turnout in our magnificent Memorial Hall which has been an important hub for the community for the best part of 100 years. I’d like to thank all the volunteers involved in creating this magnificent work, which is based on a plan created by councillor and artist Ffion Gwyn ,who last year won a Hearts for the Arts Best Councillor award in the UK in recognition of her contribution to our artistic projects.

“We are also very grateful to writer Sid Stephenson who lives in the town, Michael Fox, a professional camera person, and broadcaster Merfyn Jones for their time and skills in creating the film about its making. We thank Age Cymru Gwynedd and Môn for their sponsorship, everyone who helped organise the refreshments including the cheese from South Caernarfon Dairies. We are also indebted to Terry Mills for taking photographs and to Ben Rosen and Dan Evans for their technical expertise.”