WORK has begun on a tapestry which will be a permanent reminder of Bury at the turn of the new millennium.

And the woman spearheading the ambitious project has been overwhelmed by offers of help from those wanting to sew the 28-panel tapestry.

The finished work will be taken to Woodbury in the USA in the summer of 2000 to feature in Bury's Sailing into the New Millennium celebrations. Later, it will find a permanent home in Bury Town Hall.

Earlier this year, Mrs Vonnie Jackson, from Birtle, was asked to create the large tapestry, featuring landmarks and facets of life within the borough.

The invitation came from Shuttleworth builder Mr Melvin Magnall, the architect of the Bury-Woodbury project.

Some weeks ago Mrs Jackson, of Deep Moss Farm, appealed to readers of the Bury Times for volunteers to help in the embroidery work.

"The response was fantastic. In fact, I've even got a reserve list of people willing to help out.

"There will be 28 panels, which will be completed individually. They will be sewn together to create the tapestry, which will measure 6ft by 3ft," she stated.

"We are not going to call it the Millennium Tapestry; instead it will depict Bury in the Year 2000.

"Among the panels will be the Lancashire Rose, the Mill Gate centre, a Metrolink tram, the Peel Monument, Bury FC, the Fusiliers, and the Whitehead Tower."

Pride of place will go to Bury's coat-of-arms, which will be featured in the centre. The delicate embroidery for this panel is being carried out by 31-year-old Ruth Kielty, of Wellfield Close, Bury.

Self-taught in this skilled craft she was previously involved in similar work for a Masonic organisation. And she is relishing her new task.

"I started it around a month ago," she says, "and hope to get it finished before I go on holiday in four weeks.

"I see this as a real challenge. I like to work on it during the day when I can take advantage of the natural light."

Using colourful silk stitching, her rich embroidery work is being carried out on canvas - the material used to create all 28 panels.

The preparatory work was carried out by local artist Derek Heath who spent hours drawing the pattern of the tapestry.

Mrs Jackson said that his designs were printed onto each individual canvas.

"All the images originally came from Bury's tourism information booklet," she said.

Similar embroidery work is currently being carried out by other volunteers throughout the borough. The deadline for completion is October.

Mrs Jackson continued: "I'll probably do some stitching myself so I can say I had a hand in the tapestry.

"All those taking part in the work will create their own little piece of history. I just can't believe how much talent there is out there. It's wonderful."

The father of a Tottington schoolgirl, who will travel with several other pupils to Woodbury later this year on a research mission, has donated a frame for the work.

Thanks to Mrs Jackson's enthusiasm, allied to the skills of her band of volunteers, the tapestry will ultimately become an historic part of Bury's past.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.