Cordwainers & Curriers
Friday 8th and Saturday 9th September
Friday 11am & 2pm Saturday 12pm & 2pm
From Blackburn Museum
Book your FREE place here
Over Spring 2017 McConnell spent several months unearthing the stories of the Cookson & Clegg company – from its leather-working origins, through many years of military uniform manufacture to today making quality clothing under Patrick Grant – and has discovered how deeply the company story is embedded in the physical landscape of Blackburn. Her research-focused approach to the residency has resulted in a multimedia, audio-visual walking tour of Blackburn town centre. To prepare for the trip back in time, tour participants will don specially made, flying cap replicas inspired by the leather headwear made in the factory for the new age of pilots in the early 1900’s. The artist worked with the factory to revive the archive pattern, with the flying hats cut and re-imagined in denim. Beginning at the Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery and taking in the past sites of Cookson & Clegg’s ‘manufactories,’ the tour is interwoven with oral histories and mechanical soundscapes.
Each walk lasts around 50 mins. The route starts at Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery and is about 3/4mile, ending at Community Clothing on Lord Street West. There are 7 road crossings, 4 of which are zebra crossings. Walkers will need to be comfortable with walking the distance. No stairs, just on and off pavements and museum access.
(Originally commissioned by the Festival of Making & Super Slow Way as part of Art in Manufacturing)
