I worked with Jane Munro for Barnaby 2016 to create a Crimplene Heritage Museum — a fond counterpart/ complement to the town’s Silk Museum — in a converted horse box. The museum contained some of the lesser known highlights of Macclesfield history, including that Crimplene was invented here!
All of the facts in the museum were true, but some of the artefacts — for example, some hair and a fingernail from the town’s medieval anchoress; some giant Y-fronts belonging to the town’s largest man — may not have been. But who can tell?
The museum was also the occasion for the re-publication of the Macclesfield Judy, which had been a satirical magazine in the town in nineteenth century. London had Punch, we had Judy.
The museum was well visited and much loved in both of its locations, outside the Heritage Centre and by the Town Hall. The project was one of those visited by Darren Henley, CEO of Arts Council England on his trip to Macclesfield.
Thanks to Francesco Cuomo for all the wonderful woodwork conversion, to Geoff Bird for the sound and to Stu Pond for the fantastic sign and the Judy layout. As so often with a Macclesfield project, it was a team effort.