Hobbies
Sue’s an ace of lace
Always interested in sewing, Sue McLaggan has toured Europe with her lacemaking skills and provided costumes for her local amateur dramatics group. Jon Phipps caught up with her…
The Detling resident has also made a name for herself in the world of lacemaking, exhibiting some truly phenomenal pieces all around Europe.
A Always interested in sewing, aſter the births of her two children in the
1970s, Sue took up lacemaking “because I wanted something for me”. She gets great joy and satisfaction out of it, but fears that some of the skills involved in it are endangered as the world moves on. “I love it,” the 76-year-old says. “What I like is to take old techniques developed in the 17th and 18th centuries and adapt them to make things that people can relate to today. “It’s no good producing Elizabethan cuffs or something, nobody’s interested, but if you can make things that people might wear or hang on the wall, that’s interesting. Te techniques, if they were lost – which they were in dire danger of being in the 1970s – would never be relearnt by anybody. Tere’s a lot to it and it’s a shame if it gets swept under the carpet. “I suppose you could say it’s a threatened craſt.” During our chat, a neighbour popped in and was simply in awe of the lace work that Sue had on display for my visit.
And it is friends like that which have helped her through the sudden loss of her husband. Dr Gavin McLaggan passed away in August
2016 aſter a short batle with leukaemia, and his wife, understandably, misses him “dreadfully”.
“He was a remarkable man,” she said. “Everyone knew him in the village, he’s a big loss. I like being part of village life – I’d say that having so many friends close by has saved my bacon since Gavin died because they have me round to supper, they ring me up, they come to see me and it’s lovely – it’s what it should be like everywhere.
“He had quite a quick death, he was only in hospital a fortnight. From having been living his life one day, the next day he was not well. It was a big shock to me and our children but I feel grateful that he didn’t suffer for a long time.
GPs wife and designer of costumes for the Detling Players, Sue McLaggan has had a varied and interesting life.
“Because he loved activity, he wouldn’t have taken well to being bed- bound or a long period of ill-health, he wouldn’t have wanted that.” Te pair were married for 46 years, having met in Maidstone, and lived in the town before moving to Detling in 1969. Dr McLaggan threw himself into village life, serving on the parish council and even chairing a meeting which his wife still remembers to this day where the family of Margaret Cuwertz and Jade Hobbs met with council officers aſter their tragic deaths crossing the A249, which, in turn, led to Jade’s Crossing being built over the road. Te pair also got involved with the local Amateur Dramatics group, the Detling Players.
“We thought it would be brilliant for the kids,” Sue says. “But it just went from strength to strength. It has been a huge and important part of my life. “Gavin would direct a lot of the plays and because I’d always liked sewing, I started doing the costumes – particularly for
I like to take old techniques developed in the 17th and 18th centuries and adapt them
the
open-air Shakespeare that my husband directed over many years in the grounds of Te Croſt along the Pilgrims Way.
“My husband was very keen on people understanding every word they said, not just spouting forth this lingo that isn’t always terribly clear, so they would have read-throughs here for night aſter night just understanding the text
before they ever went on stage – some people even said they enjoyed the rehearsals more than the actual show!”
Aſter leaving school, Sue learned French in Paris and worked as a secretary in both London and Geneva, but soon things changed. “Being a GP’s wife I had to help out,” she adds. “In those days, they
did all their own evening and weekend calls so I was answering the phone very frequently because there were no locums – you did your duties yourself, which was a much beter system, I have to say.” Another change that Sue has seen is a shift in how families work – and she admits that presents a challenge for the Detling Players going forward. She has handed over her costume responsibilities but remains a life member – and hopes the group can atract some fresh blood. “It’s quite a task to get younger people involved,” she says. “Nowadays, both sides of the couple have to work to pay the mortgage, by and large all the women work, and they come in of an evening, they’re tired and they haven’t really got the energy to go out and rehearse a play, so we do have some difficulty geting youngsters.” Lacemaking and amateur dramatics have been a huge part of Sue McLaggan’s life. Both are endangered, but she hopes they can continue to thrive.
Mid Kent Living 45
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