Symbolic gesture to town's proud industrial heritage

Added: Friday, April 22 2005 09:07:36

A fund has been set up to restore the Spirit of Corby statue. Originally sited in Queen's Square, the corkscrew-shaped statue has been largely forgotten over recent years.

When the market area was redeveloped in 1990 the statue was moved to a roundabout near Phoenix Parkway. Several years later it was taken down for repair and was never put back again.

Cllr Dennis Taylor with the cracked stones and inset, the Spirit of Corby before it was taken down for repairs

Now Cllr Dennis Taylor wants to get the statue put up in St. Andrew's Square, at the top of Corporation Street, by autumn.

In an attempt to raise funds for the project a NatWest bank account has been set up.

Cllr Taylor said: "All the partners and companies got together and opened a bank account on behalf of the Spirit of Corby. We estimate the project will cost something in the region of £12,000, which will include the cost of erecting the sculpture, public liability insurance and maintenance costs.

"We have a 90 per cent guarantee the council will give us £2,500 and we are applying for about £7,500 of lottery funding, but any other help we can get would be appreciated. It is our belief it should be back in the town centre by the autumn."

However, similar plans to erect a monument to celebrate the town's proud history of steel production have hit setback. The plan is to place three huge stones, which used to stand above the entrance gates of the Stewarts & Lloyds works and together spell out the firm's name and the date of the factory's opening in 1933, next to the Spirit of Corby statue.

However, two out of three stones, which have been in cold storage in an industrial site in St James Industrial estate, are now cracked after someone inadvertently dropped about a ton of concrete on top of them.

But Cllr Taylor says this mishap has not scuppered his plans, only delayed them. He said: "I'm sure there's a way they can be mended. If anyone can help, I would like them to get in contact.

"During the heyday of the steelworks in Corby, tens of thousands of workers would pass underneath the Stewarts & Lloyds sign each morning as they walked into work. They are part of the town's history."

Source: Evening Telegraph - April 1 2003.

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