A stunning textile map of North Shields – a legacy of the town’s 800th year – created by around 60 local people from July to November 2025 is now on display in the café at the Old Low Light Heritage Centre.
The project, led by artist Gaynor Devaney, made possible through a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, involved 12 free community events, with participants sharing ideas about what should be included and drawing, painting and stitching.
Rather than a geographic representation of North Shields, the beautifully detailed artwork, involving hundreds of hours of work, illustrates a sense of the place, its people and its landmarks, rising from the river and the fish quay through the shops, historic and civic buildings to the library, Christ Church, and the Linskill Centre.
Gaynor said: “This has been such a lovely project to work on, with much enthusiasm and dedication by so many people to create a legacy of the town’s 800th anniversary. The artwork reflects people’s memories, their hopes for the town’s future and their interest in and love for our local area.
“I’m grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund for providing the funding needed to deliver the community events and buy materials. I hope the map will now attract much interest from people visiting the heritage centre where all of the workshops took place.”
The textile map is based on a paper capriccio map of North Shields that Gaynor created during 2023 with local community groups.
Centre director, Guy Moody said: “It’s been a pleasure working with Gaynor on this amazing project and seeing so many very talented people come together week after week to create such stunning artwork.”
The Old Low Light Centre is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 3pm.
