A TAPESTRY has been created to pay homage to Warrington’s exceptional women throughout the past century.

Members of DIY art collective Womanstanley have been working tirelessly on the tapestry for six weeks as part of Warrington Museum and Art Gallery’s latest exhibition, Nevertheless, She Persisted.

This year marks the centenary of women winning the universal right to vote and the display – put together by Culture Warrington’s Hannah White – celebrates the role of women in our society, and how that role has changed over the years. Just 100 years ago, life was very different for women.

In a society that saw a woman’s place as being in the home, most did not enter into further education or a profession, and women were unable to stand as an MP, or even vote – until 1918. It is a subject close to Womanstanley members’ hearts because the group’s core values are championing equality and providing more opportunities for female artists.

Sophie New, who set up Womanstanley with Roxy Ball in 2014, said: “We exhibit artwork by men and women and our events are open to everyone.

“But the reason the group started was to forge positive female working relationships in the town. Notoriously women don’t get the same opportunities in the art world to exhibit. We were approached by Warrington Museum and Art Gallery and I thought it would be perfect for Womanstanley.”

The tapestry was quite a challenge though because they were only approached about the exhibition at the end of October.

Sophie and Emily Calland predominantly worked on the tapestry with contributions from Michelle Price and three family members. We worked on it for 16 hours a day for about 30 days. I think we’ve each done 480 hours on it,” said Sophie, a former Priestley College student.

Delving into more than 100 years of records, the museum has uncovered stories about women who fought for equality. Womanstanley used that as the base for their research and dipped into the Warrington Guardian archives for contemporary accounts about women’s achievements or the fight against prejudice. Roxy Ball also captured the militant nature of the suffragettes with a baton with a knitted cover and a balaclava while Abigail Henry created a thought-provoking video to run on a loop.

Sophie, from Stockton Heath, added: “We took a lot of archive material you can see in the cabinets and thought about how we could include that and play around with some of the imagery. It formed a base for how women’s rights have progressed.”

One of Sophie’s more recent discoveries was that in 2000 Warrington only had one female firefighter – and she received a payout because she faced sexual harassment at work.

Sophie, a former St Gregory’s RC High School student, said: “We picked out those stories to highlight how things have moved on but there are still a number of issues like women getting paid less for the same jobs statistically.

“We also interviewed a number of people we met through callouts and social media about how they feel as a woman at home, at work and if they ever feel they’ve been penalised because they’re a woman. I wanted to question your everyday sort of woman because I felt it was really important they had a voice and they were given this permanent status on this tapestry we were making.

“I’m very privileged that I’ve always had a voice in my family. My mum’s a single parent so I’ve grown up in that situation where it’s two women but I’ve always been supported by the men in my family.

“But you start to question the past. In certain jobs I’ve had there’s definitely been comments that weren’t acceptable – and it’s still happening. There’s so far to go and I think in a lot of positions women don’t have the confidence to reach their full potential because they can sometimes feel stifled by others. Someone we questioned said in her opinion it’s not just men who can treat women different.

“Sometimes other women can treat women differently. It’s not about just saying ‘men are responsible’. It’s just the way we are. It’s in our fabric and the only way we can get closer to this equal society is talking about it. Hopefully this exhibition will encourage people to talk about things.”

The display has already attracted a number of visitors, including Warrington North MP, Helen Jones, who is also featured on the embroidery.

She said: “First of all I think the artwork is fantastic, and this entire exhibition is very interesting. There are some women described here that I just didn’t know about.

“In Warrington I would like there to be more research on women who fought for the vote in Lancashire and Cheshire, many of whom were working class women.

“I hope that thinking about the anniversary of the 1918 vote will encourage more women to become involved in their communities, and in politics, and to get their voices heard.”

  • Nevertheless She Persisted is at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery until April 28