The regular monthly Get Together of Harborough Welland u3a (HWu3a) on 22nd September 2025 marked the start of u3a week but, more importantly, also a 25th anniversary celebration. The showing of a special film was the culmination of two very different u3a projects undertaken 25 years apart.
The first project was the creation of a tapestry to mark the Millennium and to show what Market Harborough was like at the turn of the century. The film shows how the idea of the Tapestry was conceived, planned, designed and made by members of Market Harborough U3A (MHU3A) between 1997 and 2000. Three of the Tapestry team, still living in Market Harborough, were interviewed and spoke about their part in the project. The interviews became part of the film’s narration. These three ladies, Anne Allen, Marjorie Clements and Sheila Pendered, were key members of the Millennium Tapestry project and were specially invited to watch the film and re-live the memories of its making.
The film was put together by members of the current HWu3a Movie Group from an 8mm film, digitised and edited with additional pictures and sound. The original 8mm cine film shows the Millennium Tapestry unveiling ceremony, which was captured by current HWu3a member, Dick van Aken, who happened to be working in Market Harborough in 2000 and persuaded Library staff to let him record the event. He found the film in a box in his house many years later, and without this, the second u3a project would never have happened and there would not have been a focal point for the 25th anniversary celebration.
One of the invited guests for the special celebration was Councillor Philip Knowles, who acknowledged that the Tapestry was a fine work of art. He said it should be treasured for its depiction of the town in the year 2000. He hoped it would still be on view to the public in another 25 years so that new generations would be able to learn from it. The film was much appreciated by the packed audience of u3a members who came to view it. Thanks were given to the Movie Group, who had spent many hours over the past 2 years bringing the Millennium Tapestry back to life.
