Sculptures at Stockton Brook Locks, Caldon Canal

When I was on the Caldon Canal last Easter, I was intrigued by the curious lockside 'sculptures' on the Stockton Brook flight.

There wasn't anything - no signs, no panels - explaining why they were there, although they obvious represented local industry.

I made enquiries, and it turns out they were part of the results of a £5million 4-year initiative called  The North Staffordshire Canal Corridor Regeneration.

They were the work of an Essex-based sculptor, Anthony Lysycia.  He hasn't received enough publicity for this, so I thought I'd find out more.  The simplest way was to send him a set of questions about these Caldon Canal sculptures. 

Below are his answers: 

1. What was your brief?

To make/construct a sculpture on one of the four available sites at Stockton Brook.

2. Who sponsored/paid for it?

British Waterways.

3. Did you receive help on the project?  I notice some evidence of involvement by schools and/or institutions. Was there a local history element?

I worked with 2 of the local primary schools for 1 day per week over 2 months.  [For example] taking small pieces of stone into the schools and having day long 'workshops' with the children, teaching them about stone carving and discussing ideas for the sculptures.

4. Were any local businesses involved at all?

No.

5. Why were Stockton Brook Locks chosen, and who chose the exact location?

I'm not sure why BW chose this particular section of the canal.  I chose the two specific areas for the sculptures. 

The first one could be seen from the bridge/road. The second area, by the bridge to the pumping station, was chosen partly for ease of access when constructing the sculptures.

7. What was being celebrated?

The canal, the local area (i.e. wildlife), local industries, potteries, the pumping station.

8. Was there any logic/meaning in the exact placement?  For example, were they aligned in any way, or does anything in them point to anything?

Not really.  They were simply placed along the canal to bring interest to passers-by, both on foot and boat.

9. Are there any 'easter eggs', in the sense of hidden stuff that might come to light later?

Yes, there is a time capsule in one of them, and a letter from me to whoever finds it in 200 years time!

10. Does the work have a title?

No, not as yet.  But I'm in the process of making a metal plaque to be attached to each of them. The title will be added then - when I finally think of a suitable title!

12. How many are there?  I saw just two - but are there others that I've missed? 

No, just those two.  The original brief was to make one sculpture to go on one of the 4 sites offered by British Waterways, but I ended up making two anyway.

Anthony Lysycia adds, unprompted:

I should also explain why I made them as stone walls [as opposed to a single large block of stone]:

Due to the restrictions at both the sites, BW wouldn't allow a large (2-3 ton) piece of stone along with the machinery anywhere near the canal edge, in case it damaged the bank.  So I had to rethink my usual working methods .

After a visit to the museum at Stoke on Trent, which the time was having a refurb, I noticed the way all the display cabinets were all mixed up.

This had a very appealing quality to me, and I tried to use this as inspiration for the Stockton Brook commissions.

It struck me as the perfect solution to creating a large substantial sculpture from much smaller pieces. All the stone, carvings, metal objects etc., along with the cement, were carried across the small bridge and constructed on site - with no threat to the canal banks or lock walls.

The small stone sculptures carried out with the two schools could also be incorporated into the main sculptures.

I also got a wonderful stone waller, Mick from Derbyshire, to build the walls.  He was already wall-building in the area and I simply asked him to help build mine.

The owner of the pumping station, Mark Delf, was also very keen to assist with the project and donated all the heavy bolts/nuts and a very large metal flange from the pumping station.  These were all laid into cement, and Mick incorporated them into the wall.

All the teapots/tea cups were purchased in second-hand shops in Stoke.

I worked on the project for over 4 months, researching and making all the small carvings. Part of the brief was working with the two local schools.

Have you seen my carvings at Trevor Basin, (pictured right) near Telford's [Pontcysllte] Aqueduct? 

And have you seen my sculpture at Llanymynech?

Many thanks to Anthony for his help in this.   The answer to his final two questions is no, I hadn't seen or heard of them. I don't think BW has promoted them as much as they should.  And as the closeup of the Trevor sculpture above, and the link above to the Llanymynech sculpture shows, there's a lot of interesting detail in them. 

Not that he needs to worry about publicity.  The object of the work is to impress posterity, not the civil servants.  And just like Egyptian hieroglyphics, his work is heavily laden with clues for future generations.

Comments

[toodlesg]

The creative job was advertised and Anthony LYSYCIA was awarded the huge task by the WB!

[Dot and Derek Canvin]

Hi Andrew
Thanks for your background on these sculptures that we photographed this week at Trevor. It is great to know a little of the history as there are no explanations anywhere at Pontcysyllte Acqueduct. A shame considering the large number of tourists we have seen in the area.

[Paul Balmer]

You can see an alternative post with pictures of the Trevor Basin sculptures on Gypsy Rover at http://nzgypsyrover.blogspot.com/2008/08/stone-carvings-at-pontcysylltte.html

[Rosie]

Hi there, thanks for visiting my blog and for your comments. I expect the 'u' less version is correct, I guess I must have thought the spelling was the same as Cauldon Low :) I found your interview with Anthony Lycysia very interesting. Great photos too!

[Mark]

Dear Andrew,

I don't know if I ever mentioned that I have a Masters Degree in Ceramics. With that in mind I love your picture of the sculpture.

Mark

[Max Sinclair]

The scheme cost £5 million which BW desperately needs to keep the canals open.

[david roberts]

A pity though that they had to get someone from Essex instead of a local artist.

And four months? So how much did they cost?