On Mending: Freddie’s Family Rugs, Sixty Years Old, Mended 2022
These red rugs belonged to Freddie Robins’s family. They were used for picnics and outdoor events. You can see them in use in these photographs. Freddie is an artist, Senior Tutor and Reader in Textiles at the Royal College of Art, London. Freddie’s parents were Ronald (Frederick George) Robins and mum Molly (Chisholm) Woolley, becoming Molly (Chisholm) Robins. Freddie says, ‘My Mum was seven years older than my Dad. My Dad was a practical, well-prepared person and loved motoring, so he always had at least one rug in the boot of the car, should it be needed for a picnic in the summer or to keep warm if the car broke down in winter. ‘The car was spotless. It had to be; it was a company car and keeping your car spotless was one of the terms of agreement for having a company car. I wish that I knew where the rugs came from. They may have been a wedding present. My parents married in 1963. If they were wedding presents, then the rugs are nearly 60 years old. I don’t remember them ever being new’. Of the Family Rugs, Freddie says, ‘They always felt so contemporary, compared with the traditional wool blanket. My Mum loved modern things. Probably a reaction to being a teenager during the war’. Of the snapshots, ‘My dad must have been taking the photographs. He was a terrible photographer, but a great father’.
Image above: Freddie's Family Rug, mended, 2022. Image Above Left: Freddie, Molly and Sallie Robins, Dordogne, France, 1983. Below: Sallie and Ronald Robins, France, 1980. Image Above Right: Molly Robins, her sister Peggy and brother-in-law Pip 1980. Below: Willa Coode-Robins, 2004.
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Image above: Freddie's Family Rug, mended, 2022. Image Above Left: Freddie, Molly and Sallie Robins, Dordogne, France, 1983. Below: Sallie and Ronald Robins, France, 1980. Image Above Right: Molly Robins, her sister Peggy and brother-in-law Pip 1980. Below: Willa Coode-Robins, 2004.
Want to read more of this article?
We are proud to be a subscriber-funded publication with members in 185 countries. We know our readership is passionate about textiles, so we invite you to help us preserve and promote the stories, memories, and histories that fabric holds. Your support allows us to publish our magazine, and also ‘what's on’ information, and subscription interviews, reviews, and long-read articles in our online blog.
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? CLICK HERE TO ACCESS CONTENT
OR...to continue reading….
*Magazine subscribers automatically get free access to all our online content. We send the access code by email with the publication of each issue. You will also find it on the envelope containing your magazine. Please note the access code changes every issue.*