Steel Man

A detail from 'Blank Canvas', a 2012 sculpture in South Bank, Middlesbrough. There are lots of proud public art tributes to the town's steel-making heritage, and this one was made by a former steel fabricator, Ray Lonsdale.

It was the first time I'd been back to South Bank in about 20 years. My wife used to live there back when I first met her, but the place fell into a bit of disrepair and not that long after she moved away her childhood home was demolished. Where that street used to be is now a regeneration zone, and this sculpture is in what they call the 'Eco Village'. How times change.