Manhole covers; Behind the scenes....

I was really happy last week to see so many people interested in the manhole covers I designed for Denbigh town centre last year.  Many thanks to the Crafts Council for sharing the project on their weekly newsletter.

I thought I'd share some of the processes involved in creating the manhole covers.

The seven, individually designed manhole covers each related to a story about Denbigh and the surrounding area, for example the glove making industry, and local famous Welsh author Kate Roberts.

The process began with visits to the Denbighshire archives in Ruthin, where I studied and photographed hundreds of years worth of Tithe and OS maps.  I then took map symbols and motifs from them, and re-composed them to tell the seven stories.

From my computer based design, a company in Liverpool made deep etched 'patterns', which were used by the foundry in Bury to make an impression in casting sand, which is then used as a mould to pour molten steel into.

On the left; here's a detail of the cast 'manhole' cover.










On the right; the 'pattern' used to make the impression in the sand.

Test Fitting the raw cast cover.

Finally, an enjoyable day spent in Denbigh saw the installation of the seven individual 'manhole' covers.  Tony and Paul joined me at site with all seven cast covers weighing down their car, and the rain just held off for the three hours it took to install.  Before long, local people were walking past and stopping to have a good look.   I was particularly touched when the first of the seven covers was christened by a little present from a pigeon nest above....

A big thank you to Denbighshire County Council, CADW, Emma Wynne, Mererid at Celfwaith and Geoff Wood, as well as the feedback and support from the other Artists I was involved with in the Broomhill lane project; Joss Smith, Ann Catrin Evans, Dyfed Wyn Jones.

See more Public Art Projects here...

Public Art project completed in Denbigh

Made it back to Denbigh on Monday to see the completed public artworks on Broomhill lane.  Artists Joss Smith and Ann Catrin Evans and local blacksmith Dyfed Wyn Jones created sculpture and sineage for the lane, sitting alongside my recently installed manhole covers.

Joss made a large circular cast Aluminium sculpture along with two smaller sculptures for two corbels.

"Joss Smith created a large scale relief sculpture and built it into the wall itself, which was dismantled and re-built by a local stone waller. The relief is in the shape of the iris of an eye, filled with flower motifs (including the broom flower) which reference the story of Blodeuwedd from the Mabinogion. She was a woman created by Math and Gwydion from nine types of flowers - broom, meadowsweet, oak blossom, primrose, cockle, bean, nettle, chestnut and hawthorn. Married to Llew Llaw Gyffes, she later fell in love with Gronw Pebyr and betrayed her husband by finding out how he could be killed and arranging his death with Gronw. However, Gwydion, avenged his nephew Llew by changing Blodeuwedd into an owl, the most hated of all birds. Some say that Gwydion pursued the faithless Blodeuwedd through the night sky, and a path of white flowers sprang up in the wake of her passing, which we today know as the Milky Way. Joss makes reference to these parts of the story with two small scale sculptures installed on the wall above the lane, of an owl in flight, and the milky way." Mererid Velios, Celfwaith

 Ann worked with Dyfed to create a finger post, signposting the castle, bespoke window grilles and lighting for the lane.

"Finger post, window grilles and light fittings by Ann Catrin Evans, Dyfed Wyn Jones and Brian Fell
An existing black painted finger post at the bottom of the lane was not visible enough to mark the important route. A new finger post was made, painted in brighter colours and incorporating the town's motif of the key. The base of the post includes stylised broom flowers, followed by stylised leaves, topped by the 'Castell / Castle' sign below a large key.
Along the right side of the lane black painted, plain window grilles gave the impression that the lane was unsafe. These grilles were replaced with individually crafted grilles, depicting the broom flower, keys, flames, and weapons.
Four existing wall-mounted light fittings along the lane were of modern design and not in keeping with the historic character of the area. Bespoke light fittings were created in the form of large broom flowers that help to lead the eye to the lane from both directions.  " Mererid Velios, Celfwaith

Click here for more information about the commission

'Manhole' covers installed!

An enjoyable day in Denbigh, North Wales installing my 7 individual 'manhole' covers.  Tony and Paul from Photocast joined me at site with all seven cast covers weighing down their car, and the rain just held off for the three hours it took to install.  Before long, local people were walking past and stopping to have a good look.   I was particularly touched when the first of the seven covers was christened by a little present from a pigeon nest above....

CLICK HERE for more pictures

Test fitting of the first 'manhole' cover!

I'm really excited to see the first of my 'manhole' covers test - fitted at site on Broomhill lane, Denbigh.....

'Manhole' covers cast in steel in Bury this week

The moment I've been waiting for; to see my 'Manhole' cover designs cast in steel.

From my computer based design, a company in Liverpool made deep etched 'patterns', which were used by the foundry in Bury to make an impression in casting sand, which is then used as a mould to pour molten steel into.

I'm very pleased with the results so far; four have been cast, three to go.

The 'manhole' covers will be installed on Broomhill lane in Denbigh town centre later this year.

On the left; here's a detail of the cast 'manhole' cover.










On the right; the 'pattern' used to make the impression in the sand.