NEWS UPDATE AUGUST 2023
OUR NEW HORSE SCULPTURE IS BEING INSTALLED DURING THE LAST WEEK IN SEPTEMBER AND WE WILL BE HOLDING A " NAMING CEREMONY " DURING THE FIRST WEEK IN OCTOBER INVOLVING ST MICHAEL`S PRIMARY SCHOOL.
WE HAVE NOW BEEN INFORMED THAT FLOODLIGHTING FOR THE MINING DISPLAY SHOULD BE INSTALLED QUITE SOON, THIS WILL DEPEND ON COSTS AND FUNDING AVAILABILITIES
Our new Willow Horse Sculpture is now ready and will be delivered soon,{ DELIVERY IS AUGUST 8TH 2023 }we will be putting it in place as soon as possible, but, the official unveiling won`t take place until St Michael`s Primary School is open following the Summer holidays.
PHOTO of the Pit Pony Naming ceremony held on October 4th 2023, the evnt was attended by an excellent crowd, including, Mayor of Wigan Kevin Anderson, Elected members, Wigan Deal partners, Steven & Rachael Nixon from Weldfast, Sculpturer Jane Foddy from Gingercat Willow, Revd Michaila Roberts our new curate, Residents of the village, Members of the Bridgers and the most important, Pupils and Staff from St Michael`s Primary School.
It was the pupils who selected the chosen name by ballot " HOWIE " An excellent and appropriate name.
Following the massive disappointment of the cancellation of our contract to have a " Metal sculpture of a horse " created by ATHERTON CREATIVE ENGINEERING we have managed to find another company who will design and create a sculpture to our requirements, UNFORTUNATELY the new sculkpture will be made from WILLOW, but, there are very few companies, especially in the north of England who could create a sculpture that we would be happy with.
The new sculpture should be ready by late July / early August and will be sited immediately, with regard to illuminating the Mining Display, WIGAN MBC seem very reluctant to give us permission to go ahead with the installation of lighting for the display even though they have no apparent objections.
Chris Pennington of Wigan MBC { Street Lighting Manager } has visited the site and agrees that floodlighting would be possible and very complimentary for the area, without any detrimental affect from the lights or installation, SO why are they dragging their feet, it wouldn`t cost them anything and we would be very willing to pay for the power used to floodlight the display.
Wigan have supplied floodlighting to several display throughout the borough, including, at the Punch Bowl, Atherton, Mosley Common, Westleigh Trees Estate. WHY DENY HOWE BRIDGE ???
This week { April 6th 2023 } We received this email regarding the replacement horse sculpture for Colliers Corner, absolutely devastating news,
Hi Terry
I am sorry to say that I won’t be moving forward with the sculpture piece. I need surgery on my shoulder and chest, the consultant has told me I won’t be able to do ANY manual labour for 3-5 months. As I am sure you can appreciate this leaves me in a very precarious position, truthfully I am unsure if I can weather this storm. The last year has thrown many challenges at us here and my health and working ability is more important than anything else.
That said I would rather get the £1000 pound that had been paid up to now , back to you before I hit any really troubled waters.
Please provide the bank details and I will get that sorted.
Kind regards
Dan Harris Workshop Manager Atherton Creative Engineering Ltd Victoria works ind est Unit 5 Coal pit lane Atherton M46 0FY
We have been in touch with Dan to see if we can have the " unfinished Sculpture " and try to find another engineering company to complete the sculpture, we are awaiting his reply with anticipation