National Needlework Archives, Greenham Common & Sandham Memorial Chapel, Burghclere

Submitted by Rosemary Crumplin: Click on the pictures to enlarge them

​AHA Group broke with the normal practice of only having one visit per month and eleven members ventured out for the second time on Thursday 28th February.  Once again, we returned to Greenham Common, but this time to visit the National Needlework Archives.   
 
The NNA is a registered charity and relies on volunteers.  We were greeted by a cheerful group of ladies and coffee/tea plus cake was quickly prepared for us all.  We then began a general tour of the archives admiring some of the handicrafts made by the volunteers to sell to raise funds for their restoration work.  Our highlight of the visit was to view ‘The Country Wife’ textile mural, which was designed by Constance Howard and made by her and her students of Goldsmiths College.  Much of the craft-work features were made by the Women’s Institutes.  

 The Country Wife’ mural was commissioned as part of the Festival of Britain held in 1951, and after it was over, the mural was presented to the National Women’s Institute and hung in Denman College in Oxford until 2009.   By this time the mural required much needed restoration work and found its way to the NNA.  Our guide gave us an hour long talk explaining the damage that had occurred to the mural over the years and what is required to restore it to its former glory.  This was so interesting in explaining the methods used; chemical processes with cleaning;  having to take it apart bit by bit; finding a way to hang it for restoration which was no mean feat due to its size 4.5m x 5m.  This work will take a number of years before it is completed due to cost and the man-hours required.  In addition, other work is being carried out to restore Toc H Banners from all over the world and similar type projects.  I believe that even the men among the group enjoyed this visit and we would certainly consider revisiting.  
I was unable to take a photo of the mural, but was told by our guide to download a picture.  However, with permission from our guide in taking a group shot, I was able to get a snippit of it.

Country Wife mural

The Group

Carpenters' lunch

At 12.45 pm the group moved onto the Carpenters Pub in Burghclere, where we all enjoyed a very good lunch.  Looking for somewhere new to dine, we can strongly recommend the Carpenters. After lunch, we strolled down the road about 100 metres to visit Sandham Memorial Chapel reflecting the experience of the campaign in Salonika during the First World War.

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This campaign has largely been forgotten, but was important with a multi-national force fighting in terrain combining rugged mountains and malaria-infested swamps. The ultimate success of the Allies against the Bulgarian Army at Salonika in 1918 started the chain of events which led to the defeat of the Central Powers.
 
The Sandham project highlights this campaign, with a particular focus on the human experience of fighting in Greece and Macedonia through the story of Harry Sandham and the paintings of Sir Stanley Spencer, who both fought in the First World War and Salonika.

Sandam Chapel

​This austere but classic 1920's building belies the incredibly powerful images of one of the most important twentieth century artists Sir Stanley Spencer.

Chapel interior