Stunning textile map of North Shields to go on display

An image of the full textile map

A stunning textile map of North Shields – a legacy of the town’s 800th anniversary year - created by around 60 local people will be on display from Tuesday 9 December in the café at the Old Low Light Heritage Centre.

The project, led by artist Gaynor Devaney, from July to November 2025, made possible through a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, involved 12 free community events, with participants sharing ideas about what should be included and drawing, painting and stitching.

Rather than a geographic representation of North Shields, the beautifully detailed artwork, involving hundreds of hours of work, illustrates a sense of the place, its people and its landmarks, rising from the river and the fish quay through the shops, historic and civic buildings to the library, Christ Church, and the Linskill Centre.

A fishing boat detail on the textile map

Gaynor said: “This has been such a lovely project to work on, with much enthusiasm and dedication by so many people to create a legacy of the town’s 800th anniversary. The artwork reflects people’s memories, their hopes for the town’s future and their interest in and love for our local area.”

She was impressed that participants were so keen to represent the historic buildings accurately that they sought advice from local historians and, also, that so many different techniques were used in the creation of the map, including photoprint, applique, quilting, beadwork, Batik, hand painting, different types of collage and traditional embroidery.

“This has been a great community effort, with much sharing of stories, ideas and techniques. I have learned so much about the history of North Shields and understand much better now why people are so attached to this special place,” she added.

“I’m also grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund for providing the funding needed to deliver the community events and buy materials. I hope the map will  attract much interest from people visiting the heritage centre where the workshops took place.”

The textile map is based on a paper capriccio map of North Shields that Gaynor created during 2023 with local community groups.

The new Low Light, Stag Line building and houses on the map

Centre director, Guy Moody said: “It’s been a pleasure working with Gaynor on this amazing project and seeing so many very talented people come together week after week to create such stunning artwork.”

The map will be on display in the café until 28 March 2026.

The Old Low Light Heritage Centre, North Shields Fish Quay is open Tuesday-Saturday 10am to 3pm.

The Old Low Light Heritage Centre on the textile map