Back to Our Roots

Meet & Greet get together in beautiful St. Andrew’s Church, Grinton.

The 9th TIGHR Triennial, the culmination of the work of the UK Board, took place in President Heather Ritchie’s home area, Swaledale, in October 2018. Over 130 members—40% of the total membership of TIGHR!—travelled to Reeth from around the world and across the UK for the event.

As is traditional, the Triennial started with the Meet & Greet, in St. Andrew’s Church, Grinton, which was also home to the rug exhibition for the next three days. Over 1,000 members of the public visited the show and their comments, passed on by the curator’s band of willing helpers, suggest that everyone thought it was truly wonderful. The church looked gorgeous dressed in over 135 catalogued items from around the world; rugs were hanging, lying, and pinned up in every possible place, each pew-end was decorated with a wreath or mandala by the Reeth rugmaking group. There were several angels, a wedding dress, a section devoted to the President’s work, and some rugs made by founder member Joan Lindsay. Visitors gave over £2,600 in donations, which was divided equally between the church and the President’s social enterprise Rug Aid.