perhaps but
in a good
way. Since
May 2009,
St Helens has
had its very
own 20-metre
avant-garde
work of art,
on the former Sutton Manor
Colliery, next to the M62.
A sort of Angel of the North
for Merseyside. You might be
in one of the 35million vehicles
which are estimated to drive
past it every year.
to October 2005 when
Channel 4 launched the Big Art
Project to involve the public in
commissioning major works of
public art. All mooted sites were
documented in a four-part series,
broadcast on Channel 4 in 2009.
a sculpture from Catalan artist
Jaume Plensa, depicting the head
of a girl with her eyes closed.
in cooperation with the local
community," says Bob Hepworth,
"and they love it."
once relied heavily on a
small number of very large
out. St Helens specialties were
glass and coal. Sadly, in the
1980s, the pit closures did their
worst; then came a programme
of modernisation in the glass-
making sector, resulting in the
disappearance of a number of
big glass-making companies.
things around?
excellent logistical position,"
says Bob Hepworth, Director
of Urban Regeneration and
Housing at St Helens Council.
"As a result, three very large
were built
here one for
Sainsbury's,
one for Booker
and one for
Somerfi eld.
These employ
a large number
of people, which
helped after the
contraction of the other sectors."
regeneration company called
Ravenhead Renaissance was
established and a programme
of transformation started.
well in the teeth of the recession.
"We don't have rows of empty
shops in the town," he says.
"House-building is still going well
League Club.
was like back in the day, but Bob
does. Just. "I came here in 1980
and it wasn't an attractive place
at all," he says. "But in the last
two decades it's transformed.
is so much greener than it used
to be because we've planted
something like 2.5million trees in
the last 20 years. The whole feel
has changed. It's now a green
urban town."
noticed that St Helens
is so much greener than
it used to be because
we've planted something
like 2.5million trees
in the last 20 years.
The whole feel has
changed. It's now
a green urban town.