Duke of Gloucester opens Amble Bord Waalk
HRH the Duke of Gloucester officially opened the Amble Bord Waalk sculpture trail at a sundrenched ceremony on the Braid. His Royal Highness arrived by helicopter, landing on Amble Links, where he was met by Her Grace the Duchess of Northumberland.
On arriving at the Shorebase Trust, the pair were introduced to Diana Barkes, High Sheriff of Northumberland; Catherine Seymour, Northumberland Civic Head; Craig Weir, Amble Mayor, Abby Briggs, representing Anne Marie Trevelyan MP, and Julia Aston and Andrew Gooding from Amble Development Trust.
The Duke and the Duchess met trustees from Amble Development Trust and were shown a presentation about the Amble Bord Waalk sculpture trail, after which they walked to see two sculptures; Sphere by Rob Mulholland, and Tern by Jon Voss.
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- HRH Duke of Gloucester and the Duchess of Northumberland [IR]
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- introductions [VAG]
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- The Duke of Gloucester and Rob Mulholland [IR]
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- inside Sphere sculpture [BR]
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- meeting artists [VAG]
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- at the Tern sculpture [IR]
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- Giving his speech [VAG]
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- cutting the ribbon [BR]
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- The Duke and the Duchess with Air Training Corps Sgt [BR]
On learning of the immersive intention with the Sphere sculpture, the Duke duly stepped inside, and was interested to know from the artist more about the design and manufacturing process.
The Duke then met artists Rod Harris, Katrina Porteus, John Kefala-Kerr, Jonnie Mitchie and Frances Anderson, hearing about their sculptures, poetry and soundscape. Matthew Connolly from Amble Youth project described the work some of the artists had done with local children.
The Duke at Tern Wings sculpture IR
Finally, the Duke and the Duchess walked to the Bird Song sculpture and were greeted by children from Amble Links, Amble First and JCSC. The Duke then gave a short speech in which he said he hoped the people of Amble and visitors would enjoy the trail, the birds, nature and the environment. He then cut the ribbon and was presented with a porcelain bird box made by artist Rod Harris.
Julia Aston, Director of Amble Development Trust told the Ambler: “We were delighted that the Duke was willing to open the trail and glad that it has been such a lovely day. We are pleased to announce that the app and the website are now up and running. It’s taken a long time to get to this point, but we hope the finished trail brings a lot of enjoyment.”
Anna Williams
Photos by Ivor Rackam, Bart Rippon, Vivienne Dalgliesh
