Archives in Action - Zine Stations!
In May we introduced the 20,000 Women Zine Project, which is collecting stories about women and girls living in Cheshire in 2026. Since then, artists have been working with people across Cheshire to create zines full of fascinating details of people’s lives.
We’re delighted to share a new strand to this project and a way for everyone to get involved: colourful new Zine Making Stations are arriving in museums and libraries across Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester.
The stations have been created by artist Heather Wilson and are free for everyone to use. Each one has a mini library of example zines, simple instructions, take-away activity packs and creative materials. There is also a brightly-coloured post box for finished zines.
A zine (pronounced ‘zeen’) is a small homemade magazine. Choose a woman or girl living in Cheshire today - perhaps a relative, friend, neighbour, colleague, local person or yourself - and share something about her life. Your zine could include drawings, interviews, poems, recipes, lists, memories, collage or comics. There’s no right or wrong way to make one, and no art or writing experience is needed!
Children, teenagers and adults can take part by themselves, with someone else or as a group. You can make your eight-page mini-zine at the station or take a pack home and return it later. If you would like to keep the original, you can photocopy your zine in most libraries for a small fee.
Completed zines will join the 20,000 Women special collection in Cheshire Archives, and a selection will go on display at the new Archive Centres in 2027. Together, they will create a record of women and girls’ lives across Cheshire today, ready to be discovered by people in the future.
Zine Making Stations will be at The Silk Museum, Macclesfield; Weaver Hall Museum, Northwich; and libraries in Macclesfield, Bollington, Poynton, Disley, Ellesmere Port, Neston, Winsford and Chester at Storyhouse in the next week or so! They will move around the county to different venues for the rest of the year. For updates on where they are please follow the Instagram page @cheshire_archives_women
