Art In The Park

As far back as I can remember, Brinkburn Dene in Darlington has been a place for leisure and relaxation. It's where I learned to ride a bike. It's where I saw Punch and Judy for the first time, gathered conkers each Autumn and enjoyed endless hours of hide and seek in the bushes (when the Park Keeper wasn't around). But over the years, the six denes became a bit neglected; seats were vandalised, flower beds were abandoned and gates fell apart.

However, in recent years, the council have given more attention to this useful local amenity. And this year an award from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund has meant some further developments including a bit of art.

Last week I witnessed the installation of a steel arch at the Pierremont Road entrance to the "Sheddy" dene. This is the first of the new, artistically decorated entrances that will soon be installed in all six denes.

The artistic effects are fairly subtle and have been created to reflect a different theme in each of the denes. This one (lower picture) has a theme of water and wood - representing the numerous trees and the beck that flows through the dene.

The designs for the arches have been created by artist Coralie Turpin. As part of the re-development project, she held workshops with community groups of all ages to identify and explore themes for each dene. She then took all the ideas and artwork from the workshops and consolidated them into simple themes for the six denes. Ideas ranged from the wood and water mentioned above to butterflies, flowers and footballs.

The £878,500 project also includes new bridges across the beck, lighting along some of the paths, new seating and signs. I'm looking forward to seeing the other archways and enjoying some new experiences to complement my childhood memories - there are still plenty of bushes for hide and seek!

The arches are being manufactured by Sheffield-based Mayflower Engineering,

a specialist in sculptural metalwork.

You can read more about the denes project or visit the website of Coralie Turpin.

Vince,

Love Your Art.