Global Patterns - Rochdale Town Hall

FABRIC FROM FIVE CONTINENTS

CORE IDEA

Once Rochdale sent textiles out across the world; today they come from across the world to Rochdale. An echo of the past and a nod to Rochdale’s multi-cultural present.

On site at Rochdale Town Hall. Adrian Wright and Stephen Broadbent installed the ceramic units for the seats. The landscape is coming together - a full transformation for what was a carpark.

CONTEXT

The refurbishing of Rochdale Town Hall and its surrounding area. This included the planting of five trees, to be encircled by themed seating. According to Pevsner, Rochdale Town Hall is the premier example of Gothic Revival civic architecture in the country. It stands very proud and was built with the proceeds of Rochdale’s flourishing 19th-century textile business, which at that time exported its wares across the world. But that was long ago. The time had come for a facelift and the Council were keen to inject new life into the building and its surroundings. An artwork outside such an important building, however, would have to say something about the town, then and now.

VISITING THE SEATS

We have enjoyed some sunshine as the seasons change - and we took this opportunity for a good afternoon of people watching alongside a cold beer from The Olde Courtyard.

The dappled shade from the trees, and the tactile, colourful seats offered a playground to explore. Even in the heat wave the seats were comfortable to sit on and the patterns sparked conversations.

ROCHDALE REGENERATION

We are a small part of a much wider regeneration, so many exciting projects being realised surrounding the restoration of the Town Hall - capturing story-telling, history and engaging communities. These interventions celebrate the area - and the notion of placemaking.

“Gillespies designed the new town square, which is being transformed to complement the lottery-supported restoration of the Grade I listed Rochdale Town Hall.

The area has been transformed from a car park into a high-quality public plaza, with beautiful benches designed by Broadbent Studio and created by Darwen Terracotta, offering visitors a chance to meet and relax under the new trees.”
— Gillespies

DETAILS

Not all the colours representing the continents are accessible yet - they are hiding behing the hoardings. We have - Pink for Africa, Sky blue for Europe, Greeny brown / browny green for Oceania, Purply midnight blue for Asia and Sandy gold for Americas. Stories for all the patterns to follow soon.

Walking Together - Memorial

The #WalkingTogether memorial will be completed upon the installation of the remaining 13 figures representing the following men who lost their lives in the 1938 disaster.

https://markhamstorymine.org/?fbclid=IwAR3RL691oZQkCsiaRbOgOMiyA1gw_1i5ihxwcTJRojMX2tnhA5w8ZBN8ToQ

Over the past few months Derbyshire-based photographer David John King has been busy behind the scenes capturing photos and video of all the #WalkingTogether activity to create a short film about the project as it reaches the conclusion of a 10 year journey. David will also be capturing new oral histories for https://markhamstorymine.org Here's a few photos of the final figures being installed. Supported by @HeritageFundUK

Kate Watson

Walking Together mining memorial: Markham Vale Heritage Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/769870329844412/

WALKING TOGETHER EVENT - THURSDAY 13th OCTOBER AT 1 PM – 4:30 PM

Please drop in the Markham Vale Environment Centre between 1-4.30.
You will be able to view the work of schools and community members created as part of the ‘10 Years of Walking Together’ engagement project, have refreshments at the Centre and meet with others interested in the trail and Markham’s mining heritage. You will then be able to walk the trail at your leisure. You do not need to book for this event. Markham Vale Environment Centre, Markham Lane, Chesterfield, S44 5HY

In 2012 Broadbent studio was appointed to create a unique artwork to remember the 106 miners who died in the major disasters of 1937,38 & 73 at Markham Colliery.

Our aim was to create a living memorial to remember Markham Vale's three significant mining disasters, and to celebrate and acknowledge the Miners themselves. 

The memorial takes the form of 106 larger than life size steel figures, stretching between the village of Duckmanton and the former pit head of Markham Colliery.

This walking trail of figures symbolises a miner’s journey to the pit and back home again. The artwork will boldly cut through this dramatic industrial landscape creating a ‘desire line’ for visitors to re-imagine and remember the lives of all miners, in particular those who lost their lives for their work.

The 53 figures walking home after a shift underground will have a darker finish on the steel, compared to the 53 brighter figures walking to the pit to start a shift.

The people, supporters, sponsors have owned this project and allowed it to grow. As demonstrated by the active community and facebook group - it is an honour and privilege to have worked on this memorial for the past 10 years - and to see and experience the wider legacy for the project.