Following the extraordinary response to last year’s exhibition, The Longest Yarn, Peterborough Cathedral will this year host the much-anticipated sequel The Longest Yarn II: Britain at War, a powerful and deeply human retelling of the Second World War through handcrafted knitting and crochet.
Opening on Wednesday 3rd June inside the Cathedral’s historic New Building, the exhibition brings together 80 intricately created panels of “wool art”, each one metre in length. Together they tell the story of life in Britain from the declaration of war on 3rd September 1939 through to VE Day on 8th May 1945, not only the battles fought, but the lives lived at home.
Visitors will encounter moments that shaped a generation: the King’s Speech, the Blitz, evacuation, D-Day, the bombing of cities, rationing, the Home Guard, the Women’s Land Army and the quiet resilience of communities across the country.
Every panel captures an episode of national memory, rendered in remarkable detail through knitting and crochet, transforming familiar history into something intimate and personal. Visitors can also enjoy the ‘Poppy Drops’ created by local groups. Every flower within the cascade carries meaning:
- Red poppies for remembrance.
- Blue cornflowers for France.
- White carnations and marguerites for Belgium and the Netherlands.
- Allied flags woven throughout for all the nations who stood together.
- Purple poppies for the animals of war.
- Yellow poppies for the Canary Girls who worked in the munitions factories.
- Forget-me-nots remembering the ordinary German people caught in the tragedy of war. This is not simply a display of flowers, it is an act of remembrance, reconciliation and unity created by many hands and many hearts.
Entry is by donation and prebooking is advised.