A Commemorative Book
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Linking your communities A Commemorative Book www.caerphilly.gov.uk/loopsandlinks National Cycleway Route 47 Foreword LOOPS The Mid Valley’s Rural Village Strategy, known by many as Loops & and Links, opens up accessibility to Route 47 of the National Cycle LINKS | Network (Celtic Trail) between Risca and Nelson. LINKING YO Prior to the scheme being introduced the cycleway skirted around UR C most towns and villages. Now access to these and tourist attractions OMM such as Sirhowy Valley Country Park that lie along its route has been U NI T improved. IES Cllr. Harry Andrews, Leader of Caerphilly Community artworks developed by artist Michael Disley, in County Borough Council conjunction with local schools and residents, lie along the route of the cycleway. This commemorative book has been published to celebrate these artworks and showcase not just those artworks that you chose, but also those that never made it off the drawing board. I recommend that you walk or cycle along the route and discover more about the county borough and perhaps spot the artworks that ended up being sculptured! LOOPS&LINKS | INTRODUCTION LOOPS&LINKS | LINKING YOUR COMMUNITIES LOOPS&LINKS | WWW.CAERPHILLY.GOV.UK/LOOPSANDLINKS IES T NI U OMM C UR LINKING YO | LINKS & LOOPS Michael Disley Commissioned Artist LOOPS “Seven primary schools, eighteen stone benches, & each carved on four sides and six sculptures! LINKS The loops and links project was never going to | LINKING YO be easy! It began in the summer of 2006 with a series of tile carving workshops, seven schools had expressed an interest in taking part so I set aside UR a seven day period arranged for the 140 stone C OMM tiles to be dropped off and turned up to face U eager and excited children aged between 6 and Children enjoying carving workshop. Even adults get involved. NI T IES 11. The schools involved were; Llanfabon Infants & Llancaeach Juniors in Nelson, Maesycwmmer The children were asked to carve into the surface Primary, Ynysddu Primary, Cwmfelinfach Primary, of the stone taking the local area as a theme. There Cwmcarn Primary and Ysgol Cwm Gwyddon in were quite a few sheep, a few landscapes and any Abercarn. number of mining images. Each school was very different, the children were a joy to work with and the schools were left with around 20 -30 carved stones. Some decided to set them into paths and Proud children with finished pieces. walls to form a sculpture trail. Others were going to build them into the school itself by setting them into the walls in the school hall. Michael Disley - Artist. the artist Fresh air and fresh ideas. Tools of the trade. THE WORKSHOPS | LOOPS&LINKS the workshops the artwork At each school I talked to the teachers and pupils benches were again the local area and people were about the project and let them know the dates for invited to come along and spend some time carving the bench carving workshops, taking place later in into the surface of the stone to create a bas-relief the summer and as it worked out only finishing in carved image. Some came for a few hours but November others stayed for days, finding as I do that it is very easy to become lost in the activity of carving! The finished stones were topped with polished granite slabs and sited in six groups of three at sites near the villages. My time in Caerphilly was over for a while but the project continued back in Yorkshire where I had eighteen designs to work up and six sculptures to carve. As I said it was never going to be easy.” Proud as punch! The bench carving workshops took place at different venues around the valley, including Llancaiach Fawr and Ynys Hywel Activity Centre and proved very popular. Here three cubes of limestone half a metre square were provided per workshop. The stones were craned on to wooden pallets to set them at a height for people to carve them. I also realized that these workshops could last up to 4 days so I purchased a 3m x 6m gazebo to keep the Welsh weather at bay. The design themes for these Small groups work in harmony to produce final pieces. LOOPS&LINKS | LINKING YOUR COMMUNITIES Nelson LOOPS Initially three designs were & LINKS produced for the Nelson area | LINKING YO and each was intended to combine the railways with UR Nelson in an imaginative way C OMM and complement the seating U NI T in Wern Woodland Park near IES the cycleway. the concept Design 1 ‘Nelson’s Train’ depicts a stone train carved with Nelson as its driver. This sculpture would be sited in front of the line of benches creating an image of a train pulling wagons. The granite tops on the benches suggest coal in the wagons. Design 3 ‘Nelson’s Hat’ is a sculpture of Nelson’s head and LOOPS shoulders. His hat echos the shapes of the hills around Nelson and a train can be seen running along & LINKS its edges. | WWW. C AE Design 2 R PHI ‘The Boy Nelson’ is a humorous piece showing Nelson LL Y.GO as a boy. He is seen leapfrogging a train with Nelson V . U inscribed into the front of the engine. K/ L OOPSAN DL INKS Can you find which design was chosen and made? the designs LOOPS&LINKS | LINKING YOUR COMMUNITIES Maesycwmmer LOOPS All the designs for the & LINKS Maesycwmmer link reflect | LINKING YO the history of the village and incorporate the viaduct and UR the woollen mill, which can C OMM be found beneath it. Each U NI T design would stand approx 1 IES metre high. the concept Design 1 Shows a stylised sheep standing on top of the viaduct. LOOPS & LINKS | WWW. C Design 2 Design 3 AE R Shows a train running over the viaduct, whilst carved Shows two sheep standing on top of the viaduct PHI LL underneath are sheep on bicycles. knitting. Y.GO V . U K/ L OOPSAN DL INKS Can you find which design was chosen and made? the designs LOOPS&LINKS | LINKING YOUR COMMUNITIES Ynysddu LOOPS The inspiration that the artist & LINKS Mike Disley has used to | LINKING YO design the possible sculptures for Ynysddu is a poem by UR Reverend William Thomas C OMM called ‘Early and Late Trains.’ U NI T IES The Reverend Thomas is better known by his bardic name Islwyn and the poem used by the artist includes the lines ‘travelling, in a later train, Thou shalt join thy friends again.’ the concept Design 2 ‘This design uses an image of the mountain Mynyddislwyn, from which the poet took his name, to frame images carved on either side. The one image shows a figure leaning against some trees and the other the railway and river. The stone below carries quotes from the poem. LOOPS & LINKS Design 1 | WWW. The artist’s first idea shows a train and a cart together with a figure on top of the cart reading. The C AE R sculpture would be around 1 metre high and 400mm PHI LL thick and would be inscribed with part of the poem. Y.GO Design 3 V . U The third image shows a figure in a rail cart leaning K/ L against some books. Again the sculpture would carry OOPSAN some lines from the poem. DL INKS Can you find which design was chosen and made? the designs LOOPS&LINKS | LINKING YOUR COMMUNITIES Cwmfelinfach LOOPS The village of Cwmfelinfach & LINKS takes its name from a flannel | LINKING YO mill that once stood close to the Nant Draenog (or brook) UR where in the 18th and early C OMM 19th century many baptisms U NI T took place. It’s this history of IES the area that provided the inspiration for the proposed sculptures. the concept LOOPS & LINKS | WWW. C AE R Design 1 Design 2 Design 3 PHI LL ‘Baptism in the mountains,’ shows a baptism taking ‘The flannel mill,’ shows an image of the flannel mill ‘Baptism in the brook,’ shows a figure about to Y.GO place in the Nant Draenog. The whole design is with an oversized wheel, standing on a second stone perform a baptism in the Nant Draenog. V . U framed by the mountain itself. carved with flowing water. K/ L OOPSAN DL INKS Can you find which design was chosen and made? the designs LOOPS&LINKS | LINKING YOUR COMMUNITIES Wattsville LOOPS Wattsville provided homes & LINKS for many workers at the | LINKING YO numerous local collieries and the artist Mike Disley has UR used this information as his C OMM inspiration for the designs for U NI T a sculpture for the village. All IES three designs would stand approximately 1.5 metres high. the concept LOOPS & LINKS | WWW. C AE R PHI LL Y.GO Design 1 Design 2 Design 3 V . U The first design, sculptured in bas-relief shows miners This design shows a miner drilling at the pit face at The village of Wattsville sits at the top of the K/ L in a ‘cage’ being lowered down into a mine. the very bottom of the mine. sculpture with a band of bas-relief carving along the OOPSAN base of the stone showing a miner at work. DL INKS Can you find which design was chosen and made? the designs LOOPS&LINKS | LINKING YOUR COMMUNITIES Cwmcarn/Pontywaun LOOPS The Monmouthshire and & LINKS Brecon Canal played a | LINKING YO central role in the industrial revolution and the history UR of Cwmcarn/Pontywaun.