Simnai Dirdro - Twisted Chimney - Rhymney, Caerphilly, Wales, UK
N 51° 46.559 W 003° 18.045
30U E 479250 N 5736165
This unique, twisted chimney is located north of the Rhymney Valley. It is 8 metres high and 16 metres long and can be seen for miles around especially from the main A465 road.
Waymark Code: WME3X6
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/31/2012
Views: 6
Created by Brian Tolle, the chimney is sited near the former Union Ironworks. Brian worked with local residents from Bute on this unique design.
The design was carved from polystyrene, coated in 6mm of Armour-Lyte then hand painted by the Steel Monkey Theatre Company, so the brickwork is an illusion. It was lifted in place via a crane and was unveiled in 2010 to coincide with the opening of the film The Bogey Road by Stefhan Caddick. In the film, footage from 1918 is shown from around the town of Bute and is placed in the modern equivalent places.
The chimney was created with the co-operation of Caerphilly County Borough Council and Safle along with the Heads of the Valleys using regeneration funding from the Welsh Government.
More information can be read here: visit link
The BBC detailed the unveiling of the chimney here: visit link
Flickr also has an interesting article:
visit link
'Location: Land adjacent to B4257, North of Bute town, Rhymney.
The Artwork known as Simnai Dirdro, is a site specific artwork by New York Artist Brian Tolle, funded by HoV monies. The artwork projects a strong iconic landmark for Caerphilly along the A465, acting as a gateway feature for the Upper Rhymney valley.
The sculpture is approximately 8m high by 10m long and the Artist uses history as a raw material from which to create sculptures. The goal is to revisit and re-present history rather than revise or rewrite it. During his research, from ancient to modern, all roads seemed to lead back to the industrial heritage of the region. The history of coal and iron industries still lives in the hearts and minds of the people.
Working with the local community of Butetown the Artist’s proposal honors the past while pointing to the future. The brick smokestacks of the 19th Century were architectural marvels. The best of them were sculptures in their own right. Modeled after one of the fallen giants the proposal raises from the ground but unlike the towers of old that pointed to the sky pumping smoke the stack twists and turns downward plunging back into the ground. This turning of the head of the chimney refers to modern technologies designed to stop global warming by pumping CO2 back into the earth. By reconnecting the stack with the ground a gateway is formed, framing the valley beyond, with the mouth of the stack re-emerging from the ground a short distance away.'