AN “INCREDIBLY important” part of Clydebank’s history was celebrated at the Singer Festival last weekend.

The three-day event, running from Thursday, May 3 to Saturday, May 5, gave people the opportunity to reminisce about the sewing factory’s impact in the town.

At the showcase event on Thursday, live music was played and the work of volunteers, who had collected personal stories from the factory over the last year, was celebrated.

There were four media stations, where people could listen to oral histories and watch slide shows, and there was a sewing lab so those in attendance could try their hand at stitching.

On Saturday, there was a Ready Steady Sew competition, which saw a blind woman take part, who used touch to select her materials and worked with a friend to explain how it would be put together.

For Sarah Christie, of the Heritage Team at West Dunbartonshire Council, that moment was “extremely gratifying”.

She added: “I think we aim as a heritage team to make sure we are celebrating stories that resonate with people in West Dunbartonshire.

“We wanted to enjoy the reminiscence and we wanted to bring the archives and collections to the community, so they could enjoy it and engage with it. That’s what we are all about.”

Bailie Denis Agnew, convener of cultural services, said the festival marked a “significant” aspect of local history.

He said: “It’s great. One of the questions asked to me when I did the STV interview was ‘do you think it’s important?’

“I think it’s incredibly important. There were 17,000 people who worked for Singer, so it’s incredibly significant.

“To see all of the machines there, including the world’s number one sewing machine.

“Singer put Clydebank on the map. It not only reminded us of Clydebank and West Dunbartonshire’s position but Scotland’s global position and how Clydebank was important in the economic development at the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century.”