Silhouettes commemorate WWI Centenary
Inspired by the WWI centenaries and the fact that the park came into being as a War Memorial Park in 1922, after the end of the First World War, we designed and commissioned two stainless steel WWI silhouette artwork signs for the front and rear entrances to the park. Inspired by our design, the metalwork and laser cutting for these were provided free of charge by Advanced Engineering Techniques of Sheffield. This was arranged by Marple resident Alan Burton, who works for C Brown & Sons (Steel) Ltd.
The only costs associated with this project were for the black backgrounds and a variety of stainless fixtures and fittings. Installation was by completed by our volunteers.
Even we didn't realise just how striking the signs would be from a distance
Our WWI Silhouette Project was conceived in 2014 and installed in February and March 2015. It was a fabulous success, one of those projects that just falls into place.
The objective was to remind people of the park's origins as a War Memorial Park and based on positive comments received this has been one of our most successful projects ever.
It was particularly special that local man Alan Burton was so inspired by our idea and in-turn inspired David Birch, MD of Advanced Engineering Techniques in Sheffield, to provide the materials, laser-cutting and manufacturing free of charge. They didn't even hesitate when we cheekily said "at that price we could afford two" and we owe these two gentlemen a very big thank you!
As well as Alan and David we must say thanks to Terry Wood and his nephew Gary - not only for telling Alan Burton about our idea in the first place but also for working it up to a practical engineered solution with Advanced Engineering Techniques. Thanks also to Steve Abbott for advising how to get permission to use the artwork and John Connors, Bernard Kelly, Patrick O'Herlihy, Mick Thompson, Mark Whittaker and Rob the park attendant for preparation and installation of the silhouettes.
