Greggs becomes an unlikely patron of handmade crafts as it unveils 'Ta-Pastry'

With the historic Bayeux Tapestry set to grace the UK for the first time in nearly 1,000 years this September, a modern British icon, erm Greggs, is paying tribute in an unexpected and ambitious way.

The Greggs sausage roll, a staple of the national diet, has been immortalised in the "Greggs Ta-Pastry," an eight-metre, hand-embroidered artwork currently on display at London’s Design Museum.

The project, a collaboration between Greggs, the Design Museum, and Hope&Glory PR, was created to celebrate National Sausage Roll Day and to honour the impending return of the 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry to British shores.

Crafted by royal embroiderers Hawthorne & Heaney, the tapestry chronicles the history of the food-to-go chain, tracing the brand's evolution from John Gregg’s humble bicycle beginnings in Newcastle to recent milestones, including the much-discussed "Great Vegan Divide".

The piece is, of course, a riff on The Bayeux Tapestry: a 70-metre (230-foot) medieval artefact depicting the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England. Often considered one of the earliest "comic strips" it consists of 58 illustrated scenes stitched with dyed wool onto a bleached linen background.

While it's called a "tapestry," it is technically an embroidery. It contains over 600 human figures, 200 horses, and short Latin captions that tell the story of 1066 from the victorious Norman perspective.

Visitors in London can view Gregg’s own ‘masterpiece’ at the Design Museum, located at 224-238 Kensington High Street, London W8 6AG.