Artist’s galvanised steel sculpture on Cleveland Way will mark 50 years of Boulby mine

Next month, the mine at Boulby will mark 50 years of operation.

To celebrate the occasion artist/blacksmith Katie Ventress has been commissioned to create a lasting sculpture that will sit alongside the Cleveland Way near the site.

The artwork takes the form of a miner made out of galvanised steel and carrying the type of equipment which would have been in used in the early days. He will be sat at a replica ‘bait table’ made of laser-cut stainless steel.

The top of the table will be in the form of a map of the mine to help people visualise the site. The head of the bench has newly forged communication equipment in use at the time.

Alongside the statue will be seats where miners past, present and future, as well as members of the public, can take their families for a stroll and a picnic and maybe a ‘selfie’ with the figure.

Katie, whose studio is at Hinderwell, said: “Ideally I would have liked to have used a miner as a model for the piece but social distancing put a stop to that.

“Instead I’ve had to use my partner and he’s got a bit fed up of me staring at him from time to time or asking if I can measure his nose.”

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