The Dream is a fantastic 20 metre high sculpture of an 8 year old girl's head standing on top of the old Sutton Manor Colliery site near St Helens. We visited it a few weeks ago.
It looks out over the M62 towards the Runcorn Bridge (which is what the boys were looking at here but it didn't show up on the photo!). You can just see the M62 on the left hand side of the picture. Quiet isn't it?
It really is quite something! Spanish artist Jaume Plensa created it as part of
Channel 4's Big Art scheme. He worked along side a group of miners who used to work at the pit before it was closed in 1991. The miners wanted something positive to mark the pit site (which is now owned by the Forestry Commission). The idea for the sculpture came from the colliery's motto 'ex terra lucem' which means 'from the earth comes light'. It is made of concrete & Spanish dolomite (white marble) to contrast the black coal that is still scattered over the site. She is dreaming because Plensa says that 'in our dreams, anything is possible.' I like that. I think it's true & it also reminds me of the verse in the Bible that says that with God all things are possible. I love to dream! It's even better to know that with God my dreams can be more than just dreams - they can become possible! :o)
Annie-Joy & the boys had a lot of fun going round & round the plinth that The Dream sits on (or should that be stands on? What does a head without a body do?!).....
.... they especially loved the door at the back of the sculpture. Timmy & Luke were sure that someone lived inside the head. Perhaps there were stairs all the way to the top too? We found out later from a friend who works for Liverpool Biennial, that it is the door leading to the light mechanism! The sculpture is supposed to have a huge beam of light coming out of the top of it at night so it really is bringing light from the ground so to speak. Unfortunately they haven't got planning permission for it yet!
I love how the head peeps up over the hill in an eerie but strangely peaceful way!
The walk back through the pit site was very pleasant. The boys enjoyed the freedom to run & explore....
.... I enjoyed taking a few photos of the lovely meadows...
....and all the gorgeous flowers hiding in amongst the grasses.
This is where Timmy discovered he does like butter! It was good to spend some quiet one to one time with him (we got left behind the rest of the tribe as we marvelled at all the flowers!).
It was good but also sad, to see the original National Coal Board gates at the other entrance to the woodland. It's a little reminder of the local history in case we should ever forget. I like that. :o)
The Dream is a fantastic 20 metre high sculpture of an 8 year old girl's head standing on top of the old Sutton Manor Colliery site near St Helens. We visited it a few weeks ago.
It looks out over the M62 towards the Runcorn Bridge (which is what the boys were looking at here but it didn't show up on the photo!). You can just see the M62 on the left hand side of the picture. Quiet isn't it?
It really is quite something! Spanish artist Jaume Plensa created it as part of Channel 4's Big Art scheme. He worked along side a group of miners who used to work at the pit before it was closed in 1991. The miners wanted something positive to mark the pit site (which is now owned by the Forestry Commission). The idea for the sculpture came from the colliery's motto 'ex terra lucem' which means 'from the earth comes light'. It is made of concrete & Spanish dolomite (white marble) to contrast the black coal that is still scattered over the site. She is dreaming because Plensa says that 'in our dreams, anything is possible.' I like that. I think it's true & it also reminds me of the verse in the Bible that says that with God all things are possible. I love to dream! It's even better to know that with God my dreams can be more than just dreams - they can become possible! :o)
Annie-Joy & the boys had a lot of fun going round & round the plinth that The Dream sits on (or should that be stands on? What does a head without a body do?!).....
.... they especially loved the door at the back of the sculpture. Timmy & Luke were sure that someone lived inside the head. Perhaps there were stairs all the way to the top too? We found out later from a friend who works for Liverpool Biennial, that it is the door leading to the light mechanism! The sculpture is supposed to have a huge beam of light coming out of the top of it at night so it really is bringing light from the ground so to speak. Unfortunately they haven't got planning permission for it yet!
I love how the head peeps up over the hill in an eerie but strangely peaceful way!
The walk back through the pit site was very pleasant. The boys enjoyed the freedom to run & explore....
.... I enjoyed taking a few photos of the lovely meadows...
....and all the gorgeous flowers hiding in amongst the grasses. This is where Timmy discovered he does like butter! It was good to spend some quiet one to one time with him (we got left behind the rest of the tribe as we marvelled at all the flowers!).
It was good but also sad, to see the original National Coal Board gates at the other entrance to the woodland. It's a little reminder of the local history in case we should ever forget. I like that. :o)
4 comments:
Fascinating! Saw the big empty space on the google map. Lovely pics of everyone, especially AJ.
Glad Tim likes butter and flowers!!
Love Mum xx
Did you know there is a house in South America somewhere that is made in the shape of a woman?Timmy and Luke would like that too I expect! See you all soon. Helen
Wow! What a sculpture! We will HAVE to see that when we go to Manch next! (which incidentally is for a few days on 1 August. U around?)Think our kids would love the sculpture too! xxx
Excellent blog my dear,how weird is that sculpure looking over the hills,bet it is so creepy at night,glad you enjoyed your free & fascinating day out!
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