Today marks
the unveiling at the head of Blyth Marketplace of a wonderful new piece of
public art in the heart of the Town of Blyth.
In Elfin Walk a patch of ground next to St Mary’s church dedicated to the submariners who were based in the Town during the second world war, County Councillors Kath Nisbet and Councillor Grant Davey unveiled the latest tribute to the Towns long history and links with the military and in particular the Royal Navy.
The art work already nicknamed ‘the hub of the universe’ by locals on social media and has been commented on widely in a most positive fashion by all who have seen it since it was placed on site last week, was commissioned by Blyth Town Council and partly funded by the two Northumberland County Councillors.
We caught up with them today and they are both very concerned regarding the future of this work of art.
Councillor Davey when asked about the future of Blyth expressed his concern and pointed out that he had been the Portfolio Holder for Regeneration for Blyth Valley prior to its closure and “I was responsible for the commissioning of the ‘Blythscope’ a hyperscope sculpture by the conceptual artist Simon Watkinson and the wonderful water feature that was designed to bring life to the market place. The water feature was decommissioned by the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition administration from 2009 to 2013 at County Hall in what I believe to be support for the political statement from Councillor Jeff Reed who publically said ‘Blyth is a Dump’. I’m not sure what the future of this work of art will be but I hope the Tories at County Hall accept it for what it is a wonderful new improvement to the Town”.
Councillor Nisbet echoed Councillor Davey’s concerns and said “This week we have seen the Tory MP for Blyth, Ian Levy proudly standing next to derelict walls in Bowes Street that his Tory Council in charge at County Hall have left to crumble away, claiming it as some sort of achievement that a small amount of funding is being sprinkled by Central Government into the Town. This is following three years of planning and the offer of sponsorship to undertake the modernisations of Bowes Street from the Labour led Blyth Town Council. I am personally very worried and hope they don’t have this magnificent art work pulled down just to run Blyth down further”.
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