Witness

We visited Bilston again today as I discovered yesterday that we had missed one sculpture there and I was fascinated by the pictures I had seen.  It is called "Witness".

You may have realised by now that there is an enormous part of Bilston and its children held in my heart.  I wouldn't have stayed there teaching for the whole of my career if they hadn't been so important.  I still believe it was the right place to be although there were many times over the years when it reduced me...  Those rough diamonds could be so difficult in a school too big for its own good and too demanding for teachers who couldn't bear to stay...

These grey metal tablets lining a wall by the church are meant to look like the gravestones in the nearby churchyard.  They do. And they contain the thoughts and words of some of the people of Bilston.  There is wonder, joy, despair, truth, curiosity, beauty and disbelief there - and I found all those emotions when I read them.

In case they are not clear, here are the words if you are interested:

     The panels alternate between short and longer pieces of text, which are picked out in raised letters. They record the actual words of local people living in Bilston. The text of the panels reads, from right to left: Panel 1: THE/FURNACE/THAT/CRIPPLED ME Panel 2: I saw it/come out of the box/I was folded backwards/shiny black/and crushed/from the ribs down/My eyes had come out/like two big organ stops/The furnace/that crippled me Panel 3: THE SKY/LIT UP/IN A/BIG BURST/OF/RED GLOW Panel 4: Bilston Steel Works was/the heat of the area./The furnaces there/made anything/from anything/When the steel works closed/probably 2,500 jobs went/Open the doors!/The blast furnace blow out/The melting shop Panel 5: SAY/HELLO/TO/THE/MASTER Panel 6: Machine shop. Melting shop./Slag bogey/Number snatcher./Pig men/stripper/Dipper/crane./He never did/that job again. Panel 7: YOU/COULD/SEE/THE AIR/THAT/YOU/BREATHED. Panel 8: You could have mild/and you could have bitter/Even if it was/Pitch black with fog/Town used to be packed/full every night/There were so many/on either side/of the road. Panel 9: AT NIGHT/WE/WOULD/COME BACK/ON THE/TRAIN Panel 10: We used to live/at the back of another house/The warm entry/The rag and bone place/And as a family we had/seven loaves a day/Hopscotch and tipcat/Pigs pudding and pickle/long dresses and picture hats. Panel 11: SO/THAT'S/THE/CHANGES/I/HAVE/SEEN Panel 12: Lots of children in the street/Lots of women working./Carried the fruit/in great boxes,/made armatures/for the war/You got a rise/on your birthday/We had no teabreaks at all Panel 13: BILSTON/IS/AN/URBAN/VILLAGE/OF ITS/OWN Panel 14: When I saw/terrace type houses/with the chimneys/I used to think/they were factories/Loads of little factories/that eventually closed down/taken over by/the big firms