Running online embroidery sessions, night-time rock pooling tours, Withy Pot making, folklore writing workshops, or engaging in forgotten crafts, stories and traditions, these are some of the elements of an innovative new community sea-based project run by The Conscious Sisters entitled ‘The Gathering.’
Karen and Fiona Evans, real-life sisters, and Co-Founders of The Conscious Sisters CIC, have hosted a season of city-wide sea-based activity and workshops with the aim of bringing people living in Plymouth closer to the sea and to develop a deeper connection with Plymouth Sound.
A variety of workshops and projects has been igniting a love of the ocean across the city while capturing people’s thoughts and experiences of their relationship to the sea. A pop-up exhibition of participants’ work will be on display across the city in the Autumn and ideas harvested through the project will inform a future event for the city which will be piloted in 2024/25.
Over the past 10 months, The Conscious Sisters have created five community-based creative groups across the Stonehouse, Devonport and Whitleigh areas working with Plymouth & Devon Racial Equality Council, First Stonehouse Cubs and Scouts, St Peter’s CE Primary School, Mount Wise Community Primary School and Brook Green Centre for Learning.
The work created, through socially engaged art, explores working class local history such as the Siege of Plymouth in 1642 when the city was saved from starvation by a shoal of sardines.
Over the course of the project, some fantastic local history has emerged. This includes the discovery of a local fishing jumper and traditional craft that had been otherwise forgotten. The ‘Gansey’ is a hand-knitted jumper worn by fishermen in the early 20th century, and before, and the design would differ from town to town.
By using old photos and moving imagery from both The Box archive and magic lantern images from the Fisher Collection, The Conscious Sisters have been able to compose authentic gansey designs to create a standard Janner Gansey.
This new gansey is being knitted to fit local crabber BJ Tapper by knitter Maya Izumi who is part of the Women’s Craft Collective at The Box. Maya has been knitting the replica jumper on the beach at Devil’s Point – out in the fresh air and with views of Plymouth Sound.
The first prototype will be on display at The Box in 2024 but the people of Plymouth will be able to see it and even try it on at various pop-ups this Autumn.
Another piece of sea-based history the project has highlighted includes Withy Pot making. Withy pots have been recorded in old paintings dating from 400 years ago, but the craft goes back further as humans have used traps to catch fish and crabs since people first inhabited our shoreline.
Sue Morgan of Crab Pot Cellars, whose husband is a crab fisherman, engages in this traditional craft using the Hope Cove pattern. As part of The Gathering Project, Sue Morgan ran workshops with Plymouth Community Home’s residents living in the towers in Devonport showing them how to make the traditional crab pots which would have been seen across the local coastline until the late 1960s and are now on the red list of endangered heritage crafts.
Alongside ancient craft, The Gathering has also been shining a light on local jobs long forgotten. Martin Crossthwaite became a supernumerary lighthouse keeper on the Eddystone at aged just 20, he was one of many speakers who were curated to chat while women embroidered online.
Martin said:
“I wanted to do something different before I settled down and had a family. The Eddystone was a noisy place, the noise of the generator, the noise of the sea and it was always windy. We used to kite fish on the towers, it was safer than standing in the doorways”
The project has also run a series of folklore creation workshops with local writer Jon Nash where some fantastic local stories have been shared and new ones created.
The Conscious Sisters, whose ancestors were fishers, are passionate about connecting Plymothians to The Sound. They said:
“Plymouth has often been referred to as a city that has turned its back on the sea. We truly believe that emerging ourselves in our rich and fascinating ocean heritage using creativity can transform our relationship with The Sound and ultimately with ourselves. Let’s put the narrative of colonisation on the back boiler and celebrate our rich working class history.”
The Gathering project will create a large-scale community event that celebrates the everyday heritage of The Sound and its lost traditions. An event that encourages the community to care for this incredible space.
With suggestions collated already from the community you can vote for your favourites by filling in a simple questionnaire online https://forms.gle/W7RHMST4Gq7EewKs9
The Gathering is funded by: Plymouth Sound National Marine Park, The Box Plymouth, Arts Council England, Nudge Community Builders, Plymouth Community Homes, Sovereign Housing Association, Local Emergencies Fund, BA Better World, Plymouth Citybus and Crowdfunder.
For more information on The Gathering and The Conscious Sisters CIC, visit www.theconscioussisters.com and sign up to their mailing list.
