On the day Bayeux tapestry tickets were released, Megan Stockwell was at the beach. She was so determined to lock down her spot, that she sat with her toes in the sand for an hour, waiting in the online queue. I was like, ‘oh God, am I, like, the geek version of this?’” she recalled.
Like any committed Swiftie, Stockwell felt confident the experience would be worth the hassle and cost. As a self-professed Francophile, she was fascinated by how the tapestry, which is temporarily housed at the British Museum until next July, tells the story of the Franco-British relationship through the Norman conquest, culminating in the battle of Hastings. You’ve always got some mention of the Bayeux tapestry, the Normans, the fact there’s even three lions on the back of our pound coins comes from Normandy.
This sort of feels like a visual representation of that,” she said. Stockwell’s dogged pursuit of tickets, fascination with the Franco-British relationship, and childhood memories of learning about the battle of Hastings, were experiences shared by many of the visitors on the exhibition’s opening day. Cydney, who lives in Texas, also drew inspiration from her experience queueing for concert tickets to secure a coveted opening day spot.
She had woken up at 3am local time to join an online queue for an hour and half to secure them when they were released. She anticipated it would be worth it: “It’s going to be life-changing, we’re so excited.” Cydney had studied history for her undergraduate degree. Seeing something so old is just incredible and honestly such an honour.” Her feelings were echoed by Adrian Harris, who was so moved to catch the exhibition that he signed up for British Museum membership purposely to gain early access to tickets.
He ended up the second person through the doors on Thursday morning, after joining a “really jolly” queue at 9.30am. It was very, very moving to walk down the steps and to see the length and breadth of it. And I think they’ve done it so well, the British Museum.
It was very profound to see it,” he said, adding he had been especially thrilled to spy Westminster abbey, where he works, on the cloth. He noted that although he was one of the first through the doors, he felt that 40 minutes was a restricted timeframe to see the 68-metre tapestry, though he observed that attendants were diligent in ushering people along. A number of ticket holders for the Bayeux tapestry at a special first viewing last weekend were reportedly turned away after other visitors took too long to view it.
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