Walsall tapestries to tour the Midlands

An army of volunteers created the 11 unique tapestries which represent the six towns and other areas in Walsall last year.

Up until this week the tapestries were on display at the New Art Gallery in the town centre but they are now on the move.

They will be on display in St Matthews Church as part of Blue Coat Arts Festival which features artwork by the children and young people from all three Blue Coat schools.

After that they will then move to various locations around the borough before being displayed at the NEC Sewing for Pleasure Show between March 17 and 19. Commemorative postcards depicting each of the tapestries will be available to buy.

To help decide what to feature on the tapestries, workshops were held around the borough in early 2016.

Each area of the borough had its own story to tell, whether it be the Pelsall poppies or the excitement when Cilla came for the first Blind Date wedding.

The tapestries also tell the story of famous faces from Walsall, including Ellie Simmonds, Noddy Holder, Goldie, Meera Syal and Rob Halford.

Once the content was decided, midlands artist Hunt Emerson, famous for being an artist on the Beano comic, created the designs for the 11 tapestries.Around 100 experienced volunteers worked hard on the project for around 10 months. Each of the 11 tapestries are the result of around 2,000 hours of work.