Make Do and Friends Connect in Laxfield

Inspired by an exhibit in their local museum, we invited residents in Laxfield to share with us some of the treasures they have stashed in their sheds – and the results were both fascinating and bizarre.

Participants gathered outside the church and, using what looked suspiciously like sponge cake moulds, made impressions of their individual items in clay.

Objects as diverse as a part of an old oil drill head and a WWI trench mace to a candle snuffer and an old mill key were brought along, and each item had a story behind it. As one participant remarked,

“It was lovely going through some old things, it brought back some lovely memories, not sad at all, just happy memories of the people who gave them to me, and the times we shared together.”

Having made the impressions, artist Caitlin Howells then took the moulds away and cast them with jesmonite plaster, adding iron filings and a salt wash to create an oxidised effect.

The resulting nine plaques are currently on display around the village, for everyone to enjoy and marvel at.