THE FOUNDER of a Clydebank knitting group has spoken of her shock after the group’s latest creation mysteriously disappeared over the weekend.

Margaret Reid and her Knit and Natter group, Maggie's Yarn Buddies, spent nearly six weeks working on a spring-themed post box topper, which was officially put on display on Wednesday (March 15).

The impressive knitted creation was fitted on top of a post box just down from the Big Disability Group (BDG) base on Dumbarton Road in Dalmuir, where the knitters are based, before it vanished on Sunday.

Ms Reid told the Post she was gutted after receiving a text from a friend to say the topper was no longer there.

She said: “I got a message on Facebook from a lady I know and she said ‘I hope you’ve taken the topper off because it’s not there’.

“She went out around 1pm on Sunday and it was there, and by 4.30pm it was gone. She searched the memorial garden beside it just in case someone had lifted it and thrown it.

“I was just gutted. It hadn’t had a good chance to be appreciated. It was only up for a few days or so.”

After Margaret was told the topper had gone missing BDG put out an appeal urging Bankies to keep an eye out for it.

The Clydebank resident said she hopes that someone is enjoying it rather than it having been discarded somewhere.

Ms Reid added: “I was really surprised that it had gone missing because it’s not like that’s a really high traffic area for pedestrians.

“It was Mother’s Day on Sunday so I did wonder if someone’s maybe lifted it for Mother’s Day. You’d like to think someone was getting to enjoy it, rather than it ending up in the canal or a bin.

“We only put it out on Wednesday. I do hope it’s returned. It would be lovely to have it back on the post box and let people have the chance to appreciate it.

“After posting on Facebook, all the comments we’ve received have been lovely. Maybe if someone has it, they’ll see the comments and return it.”

However, the incident hasn’t deterred the group from making more toppers in the future - with Margaret explaining she had already been thinking about the next one.

The spring topper had been the first that the entire group had been able to contribute to, with Margaret making the first two herself – one for Remembrance Day and another for Christmas.

The keen crocheter told the Post she believes this will motivate the group to want to work even harder to continue to make bright and colourful creations to cheer up the town.

She said: “It is really gutting as it’s a lot of work but it’s also a labour of love. It’s very enjoyable. It was lovely to hear that people were enjoying it.

“It’s the element of surprise. People come across it and it instantly cheers them up.

"Some of the ladies [at Maggie's Yarn Buddies] were great at bringing in wee Easter bunnies and flowers they had crocheted to add to it.

“The previous two I had done myself but it was brilliant to have the group involved in it because it’s a lovely feeling knowing you’ve created something that is making people happy and brightening their day.

“I think now everyone will want to get involved even more so to replace that one.”

The group is aiming to replace the spring topper in the coming weeks as well as working on some colourful ones for the summer months.

Margaret began crocheting during lockdown after having been a knitter all of her life.

She said it was a skill she had always wanted to pick up but only got around to during the Covid lockdown.

Maggie's Yarn Buddies meet every Wednesday at BDG’s hub at 627 Dumbarton Road, Dalmuir.