Bedford’s newest town centre sculptures
Some little while ago now (well, September to be precise) I noticed some work being undertaken in Bedford’s Silver Street. Right where it joins the High Street.
Digging up the pavement and stuff. Flower beds went. A small statue of Trevor Huddleston was moved back a few yards, and so on.
All to make way, apparently, for some new sculptures.
Which whole enterprise seemed to be a worthy thing to keep my eye on. So I did.
Then, round about the middle of October, these promised creations appeared.
Into November then and finally work was completed, with all the fencing and stuff being removed so that Bedfordians could marvel at the town’s latest attraction.
Well, I say “marvel” but whispers that reach my ears incline me to suspect that many residents aren’t terribly impressed with this particular expenditure of their hard-earned money by the Council.
Part of that dismay seems to be the design of the sculptures themselves, but also resentment that the Trevor Huddleston statue has been relegated to a less noticeable location.
For my part though I have to confess a sneaking liking of them.
I’d originally intended to blog about them earlier, when they were first unveiled, but having noticed floodlights inset into the plinth I decided to delay this post until I could grab some pics of them in the full glory of illumination.
The sculptures are by Rick Kirby and he’s entitled his creation “Reflections of Bedford”, intended to be representative of the multicultural population of the town.
How well they actually convey that is another matter entirely, and no doubt folk will have their own opinions about it.
Nevertheless, crafted from stainless steel, I still think they’re quite attractive and an asset to the town.
