Around 200 people came to a community evening at Criccieth Memorial Hall on 25 March 2023 to see a film and the unveiling of the second Criccieth Tapestry. 

The multi-media work measuring over 4m depicts buildings in Mill Street and Castle Street and includes crochet, knitting, rugging and embroidery techniques.

It is the result of 10 months work by 22 volunteers and follows on from the first tapestry of Marine Terrace which was unveiled for the centenary of Criccieth Memorial Hall in the summer of 2022.

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 was shortlisted for the 2022 Awards.

Liz Saville Roberts M.P. said:

"It’s a pleasure to be here to celebrate the unveiling of yet another creative community masterpiece which is part of Criccieth Town Council’s creative activity open to community members across the generations. 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, Chair of Criccieth Town Council 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 recongition 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."

Some observations from attendees:

• "A pleasure and a privilege to be able to attend tonight and see such a masterpiece."
• "What an amazing piece of creativity."
• "A great creative collaborative project – well done all"
• "How wonderful, I’m in tears."
• "Wonderful effort by all those involved and more interesting than the Bayeux!!"
• "A wonderful event, great to see."
• "Beyond words - awesome."
• "Wonderful tapestry, film and people."
• "Proud for the town – wonderful evening"
• "What an amazing experience – thank you."
• "What an incredible piece of work."

For more information on Cricieth Creadigol-Creative Criccieth, please see their Facebook page.