Clwyd Flint Panel

Description

At the top of Clwyd Flint’s panel is the beautiful mountain of Moel Famau completed in machine embroidery leading down to Flint Castle which has been completed in blackwork.
To the left of the panel is the Lighthouse in Talacre completed in crochet. It is now a tourist attraction but was very important to the coal and iron industry in the area until the river became too shallow for the larger boats. The Lead mine in cross stitch further down the panel below the timeline is also a reminder of the industries that
were important to the Clwyd Flint area.

In the centre of the panel is the emblem in cross-stitch of the Associated Countrywomen of the World, more commonly known as ACWW. Mrs Alfred Watt, the founder of the WI, had long dreamt of an international organisation representing the concerns of countrywomen. In
1933 her dreams were realised and ACWW was founded in Sweden with the aim of improving
the quality of life for women and communities worldwide. It also provided a way for WI members to become involved in issues
facing women in the wider world and members continue to support ACWW by collecting ‘coins for friendship’, also featured on the panels, at their meetings. The monies collected provide financial support for projects, which are within keeping with the WI’s objects, which help women in the developing world.
In 1938 the NFWI passed a resolution calling for‘ shorter
hours, better pay and conditions for nurses’ which is depicted by a placard and a knitted Nurse standing by an iron bed stead.
The Gold Cape in gold work in the centre of the panel was found in Mold in 1833 and is unique.
It is currently held in the British Museum and is one of their top ten treasures and a replica can be found in Mold Library.The red balloon and glass in appliqué, the Pergamano® card
and key are in celebration of the WI’s 21st birthday in 1937. Celebrating the official coming
of age of the NFWI on the 21 July, Lady Denman said ‘The experiences of our 21 years’ work
shows that we can do something to add to the happiness of the countryside. No job is better worth doing’.
Below the nurse are items synonymous with the evacuation of children. The gas mask, trunk, railway tracks and label, done in leather and felt, pay tribute to the work that the WI did with the
evacuation of children during World War II. In June 1938 a letter was sent to all WIs, saying that is was appropriate for them to co-operate
with caring for evacuees but that the monthly meetings should be run as normally as possible,
‘maintaining the educational and social character’ and ‘thus providing for the members a centre of tranquillity and cheerfulness in a sadly troubled world’. Over 1,700 WIs responded to the Town Children through Country Eyes survey on the conditions and habits
of evacuees. The responses were later influential in providing evidence that led to the setting up of the Family Allowance paid to mothers.
Bottom right of the panel is St Winefride’s Well, in scrunch work technique, which was erected in
the first decade of the sixteenth Century. It is a place of pilgrimage and healing in Holywell and many think of it as the Lourdes of Wales.
The vegetables, nourished by the rain from the cloud above them, denote the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign and are completed in ribbon work, Suffolk puffs and knotting. It arose out of a
Government edict in 1939 when the Produce Guild was formed and the Development Commission gave a grant of £500 ‘in aid of the agricultural work of the WI’ with the comment that they were ‘impressed by the opportunities
which the Women’s Institutes offer, composed as they are of producers and consumers in
rural areas, for encouraging the production and treatment of fresh food stuffs’. Through the Produce Guild, members were taught how
to grow fruit and vegetables more intensively in the gardens and allotments, and fruit bushes and packets of vegetable seeds, many coming from WI in Canada were sold through the Guild.
The timeline is knitted using various patterns popular at the time and the federation badge has been completed in Gold work and sheer embroidery and represents the New Dee Bridge, Moel Famau, Flint Castle and the Lighthouse in
Talacre.