BIRDS

The sculpture represents Poole’s industrial heritage through the ages – ancient times going back to Roman and iron age and Roman occupation, going right the way through to the modern age, looking at lots of different technologies and trade that Poole has made over the centuries.

There are six birds in total, and they are not arranged in any time order. Really when I arranged them I was looking at trying to get a nice mix of the shapes of the different positions and angles the winds are at and the birds are at, trying to get an interesting composition. They are not in age order, as some of them are age-specific and some of them span vast eras of time.

So for example you’ve got Poole Potteries. That goes from Roman pottery, but mostly it’s Poole Potteries and then Carter Ceramics. It’s looking at the patterns and colours of the designs that were made, that feeds into it.

You’ve got the lava lamp from modern times, we’ve got boat building which spans from the Iron Age – the logboat that is in the Poole Museum, right through to Sunseekers and lifeboats that are made in Poole today.

We’ve got industrial specific ones – British Drug Houses were an industrial chemists in Poole and they invented the Liquid Crystal Displays – LCD displays – for old-fashioned calculators and suchlike, and also all other sorts of industrial chemicals including birth control, the Pill.

And Maritime Trade, obviously that was a heyday in the 18th and 19th centuries, and you’ve got all the goods that were traded as well as the associated local trades in Poole…sailmakers, making blocks for the rigging, and rope makers and suchlike.

And we’ve also got foundries, iron foundries in particular in the local area around Barbers Piles, making anchors and steam engines and chain and all manner of iron goods as well, for domestic use too.

Now is that six?