Sculpture complements Rose Garden restoration
The plinth in North Lodge Park gets a new occupant
For over 18 months volunteers from the Friends of North Lodge Park have been restoring the Rose Garden in the Park, working around the empty plinth which once supported a sun dial. When local sculptor Bob Catchpole heard the Friends were looking for a sculpture for the empty plinth he donated one. “I have worked with old garden tools for many years, giving them a new role and purpose,” Bob said. “So when I heard about the work of the volunteers in the Park I thought that my use of recycled tools to produce art really fitted with their aspirations and wanted to contribute to the restoration.”
“Thanks to Bob’s work you may never look at your garden forks and spades in quite the same way again. But that’s the whole point,” said Barry Meadows from the Friends of North Lodge Park. “We’re really interested in bringing works of art to the Park and Bob’s really generous offer gives us a flying start. If we get a positive response from the public we’ll look for more ways to bring more art to the Park.”
“It’s amazing what the volunteers have achieved in the gardens”, said Councillor John Lee, Chairman of the District Council who unveiled the sculpture on the 4th April. “Installing this sculpture on the empty plinth is a real achievement and I’m proud to be part of the project supporting the Friends.”
For many years, Bob has been using agricultural and garden tools in his sculptural works, something which is a surreal and wonderful sight at the same time. After attending both Norwich School and Norwich Art School, he studied Fine Art at Newcastle University before going on to a post-graduate degree at the world-renowned Slade School of Fine Art in London. He has spent a large part of his professional life teaching sculpture, latterly being head of sculpture at Eton College, Windsor for almost 30 years. He established his first studio in North Walsham, Norfolk in 1985 and has lived there ever since.