More 'poetic' lock beams
These are at Lock 9E at Milnsbridge on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, having poetry by Jo Bell carved into the lock gate by the artist Peter Coates, to once more — we are told — celebrate the birth year of the Canal & River Trust, with a spokesman adding:
"This art project is part of an exciting partnership between the Canal & River Trust and Arts Council England which aims to attract more visitors to Britain's historic waterways."
Replaced or repaired
Four other lock gate replacements are taking place with two being repaired, meaning that in the last three years more than half of the locks on this canal have been replaced or repaired.
Canal & River Trust Arts Development Manager Tim Eastop explains the project's significance:
"There is a longstanding link between arts and the waterways—indeed, the canal locks we use today are based on Leonardo da Vinci's design for a lock at San Marco in Milan in 1497. Art in all its forms has a fantastic capacity to surprise, delight and challenge and we are exploring a whole range of projects which we hope will encourage people to visit and support the waterways."
The objection by boaters is they cannot see the point of wasting money on the poetry, that is usually difficult to understand, and results in the lock beams having a shorter life, being left completely unpainted.