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Cathedral hosts knitted World War Two exhibition

Ollie SamuelsNorth West
News imageBBC A series of glass cabinets sit on a stone flagged floor. Inside the cabinets are scenes from World War Two. A London Underground station, with people sheltering, can be seen in the nearest cabinet.BBC
Blackburn Cathedral is hosting The Longest Yarn - Britain At War

Blackburn Cathedral is revisiting the story of World War Two... through the medium of 80 metres of knitted panels.

The Longest Yarn's Britain At War exhibition was produced by hundreds of volunteer knitters who studied photographs taken in Britain between 1939 and 1945.

The cathedral's chief operating officer, Ian White, said: "The spread of people from across the UK is incredible, and what's really interesting is that those people will have a personal connection to the scene they are creating."

Exhibition organiser Tansy Foster told BBC Radio Lancashire she aimed to raise money for veterans' charities from the "totally accurate version" of the war depicted in the intricate artwork.

News imageA yarn depiction of the famous photograph of a sailor kissing a stranger in a white nurse's uniform. Several other "yarn people" are in the background.
The famous VJ Day kiss photograph, depicted through the medium of yarn

This is the second large display created by The Longest Yarn.

The first, depicting D-Day, is currently on a 10-month tour of the United States.

Foster said the original idea came to her after she knitted a "topper" for her garden gate to commemorate D-Day.

She said that exhibition had so far "attracted in excess of 250,000 visitors" on its tour, and the volunteer knitters she had recruited via social media had been keen to produce a follow-up.

News imageA depiction of a man sitting at a desk, with a camera pointing at him, made out of yarn.
More than 250,000 visitors have so far seen the D-Day exhibition

Foster said the key to the exhibition was that everything had been made in the correct proportions.

"If you had a little figure on a jeep, he had to look as though he was able to fit in that jeep, or fit through a door," she said.

"Wool and war, I don't know why, but it works!"

News imageA yarn depiction of a large street party. Dozens of people are gathered around tables outside, with bunting on houses in the background.
"Yarn people" seen celebrating the end of World War Two with a street party

The display is one of a number of exhibitions to mark Blackburn Cathedral's centenary.

The Longest Yarn's Britain at War exhibition will be at Blackburn Cathedral until 7 February. It will return to Lancashire when it goes on display in Chorley in October.

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