Petition to keep Bayeux tapestry in France

Galleries are very funny about vibrations, in London they put seismic sensors on the walls when the builders were running hammer drills. They didn’t care a hoot about the northern line trains running underneath every 5 minutes.:joy:

Trains and their noise and bustle are just part of ordinary life in whichever country. :+1:

In a a scribbled note from the trenches in Ypres 1914, the young French lad described the vibrations when bombs landed and the crazy sounds of mortars etc zipping overhead… as being just like the Paris Underground at rush hour.. and it all reminded him of home :wink:

How he found the courage to make a joke when facing possible death, I have no idea.

Incidentally, he mentioned that the English had just arrived and were a good lot, cheerful and singing..

He died the same day that he wrote that note, but the Postal Service was obviously working well, as the note did arrive safely at the English address where a young French girl was living. (my French grandmother)

5 Likes

Oh blimey Stella, that was inspiring enough, but that last sentence blew me away. :joy:

@David_Spardo

She knew him from their childhood and had been writing to him in the trenches to keep his spirits up.

An elderly French lady from Laval was visiting us, (she has some English). I showed her the paper. She raved about the glorious old-fashioned script and language. ..

This is from a different world, she explained.

anyway, she transcribed the faded document for me and she had tears in her eyes as she read out the translation she had done .. by the end I was dewy eyed too.

From his words, it was clear that when he returned from the war he was going to propose marriage..

“When we meet again I will take your hands in mine, gaze into your eyes and speak gently with you… ”

Alas, it was not to be :cry:

Lovely, and depending on your point of view, maybe they did meet again. :joy:

1 Like

Returning to the thread(s)

Have just read that one reason the tapestry is in such fragile nick is because the museum authorities, who now are so concerned about its condition, have been displaying it vertically since 1983. Apparently it should have been displayed flat in order to stop the threads from stretching with the tapestry’s weight.

1 Like

Typical, those that shout loudest and all that.

Presumably the English Copy is not so heavy, since it is not displayed flat either.

They could have simply solved that problem by glueing it to a bit of MDF, idiots…:rofl::rofl:

4 Likes

Something similar might well have been done with the English Copy and would explain why it hasn’t stretched.

But is 700 years younger! And may be embroidered on a stronger industrial victorian fabric rather than medieval one?

1 Like

If they took the one from Reading museum and put it in the British museum kept it a secret would anyone actually notice?