TRUMPINGTON WAR MEMORIAL
by Sue, Jonathan and Melody
My name is Susan Gibson and I live in Shelford Road, Trumpington.
I moved into Shelford Road, with my family, in February 1986 and have, therefore, lived here for 31 years.
When I was asked if I would like to contribute a panel to the wall hangings, my first thought was of the War Memorial. It is such an intrinsic part of Trumpington history.
The memorial was designed by Eric Gill and unveiled on Sunday 11 December 1921. The cost of the memorial was raised by public subscription, with a contribution by a member of the Pemberton family. It was Grade II listed in 1999 and renovated in 2014.
The memorial sits in the centre of the village at the junction of High Street and Church Lane. It commemorates the men from the village who were killed in the First and Second World Wars and bears the inscription, ‘MEN OF TRUMPINGTON WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR – FOR LIBERTY AND JUSTICE’.
I decided to work the panel in cross stitch, and wanted it to be simple and reflective. I began by downloading images of the war memorial from the internet. After choosing an image I printed it out, increased it to a suitable size and traced the outlines. I then photocopied the traced outlines onto 10 count graph paper. I selected 11 count aida and silks that reflected the Portland stone from which the memorial was made.
I marked the centre of the aida and the photocopied outline image and worked the first two rows of cross stitch. At this point I suffered a sudden onset eye condition that prevented me from continuing. The work sat untouched in a plastic folder for four months. A family holiday in France was arranged and I asked my granddaughter, Melody (then aged 18 and whom I had taught to cross stitch when she was quite young), if she would help me with the panel. Of course she said yes. Melody did stitch the base of the memorial but holiday activities and a necessary return to work prevented her from continuing. However, my son, Jonathan, Melody’s father, offered to continue with the work and after a short lesson in cross stitch did so. The idea of using the darker shade of silk on the right hand side of the memorial was Jonathan’s, using his memories of working scraper board when he was young. This gave the memorial a 3D effect which I was delighted with.
On returning from the holiday I managed, with the help of a very good magnifying lamp, to complete the inscription. I felt the panel needed a little colour and so designed the poppy images to complete the task.