Lace Plankton

Gathering together a group of women who had arrived in Torquay from various places across Europe, we were led by a local Devon Lace-maker Jo Hyde to help us make small lace pieces that represented plankton in the seas in Torbay.  Most of us were beginners and the lace-making focused our heads and hands in an extraordinary way whilst we talked about where we'd come from, how it was to live in Torquay, our sense of home and the ecology of the sea.

Plankton is from a Greek word meaning ocean wanderers or drifters, and as a group we studied them with help from a Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust Marine Biologist, who led a session looking closely at plankton through a microscope and who turned out to be a natural lace-maker!  We enjoyed being shown behind the scenes lace and pressed seaweed at Torquay Museum and during each workshop we shared food from our family recipes.

The lace pieces created are now part of the Museum's permanent collection.