“How the Lochgelly tawse changed the world”

OK, now this is a little surreal, from a Scottish community music project:

“Banned The Belt : How The Lochgelly Tawse Changed the World” is a brand new part of The Band project.

The Lochgelly Tawse is the town’s most famous (and feared!) export, having been used in 70% of schools, and made in Lochgelly for over 100 years. ‘Banned – the Belt’ will be an installation piece with promenade audience, using film/digital image, installation design, stage and music teams working with groups across Central Fife. This project is with and for everyone aged 16+, and will involve practitioners as teaching artists as well as creators – we will be taking the ideas of those involved and creating with them.

You can help! In order to make ‘Banned – the Belt’ as locally-relevant and insightful as possible we need your stories!

Do you have painful memories of being belted at school? Maybe you were a teacher who used (or chose not to use) the belt on your pupils? A mother or father whose child was beaten? Or maybe you know something about the manufacture and distribution of the Lochgelly Tawse around the country?

Any stories you can share, whether you are able to participate in the production or not, would be appreciated and will really benefit our project.  Please share your experiences via our Banned – The Belt Facebook page or email them to Banned.theBelt@gmail.com

Here’s the flyer for the project:

I’m told that the main event is taking place in the Lochgelly Centre (what a name!) at the end of November. There’s even going to be a ‘mock workshop’ by Margaret Dick, daughter of the late John J. Dick (renowned supplier of straps to the educational establishment for many years), demonstrating how the tawse was made. Anyone local able to find out more details? Sounds like an outing to Scotland really might be in order, with a nice hotel and a private post-theatre re-enactment of key elements of the evening’s performance before bed…!