'The Pace of Recovery' - Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK.
N 53° 01.570 W 002° 11.596
30U E 554106 N 5875485
The sculpture called 'The Pace of Recovery' portrays a flying swan, and is located on a mini-roundabout at the junction of Festival Way and Marina Drive at the entrance to the Festival Retail Park in Stoke-on-Trent.
Waymark Code: WM147AN
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 05/05/2021
Views: 9
This stainless steel sculpture called 'The Pace of Recovery' by Francis Gomila portrays a flying swan and was commissioned by St Modwens Properties PLC.
It is located on mini-roundabout at the junction of Festival Way and Marina Drive in the Etruria area of Stoke-on-Trent.
The area formerly housed a steelworks and has now been redeveloped as a retail and leisure park.
It was unveiled on 29th March 1994 by Lord Walker of Worcester MBE PC.
Description:
"The swan is mounted on a tall plinth that slopes at an angle of about 40 degrees. It is depicted with outstretched neck and wings, as if rising from the water into the air.
The swan appears on the logo of St Modwens Properties Ltd, the property development corporation responsible for purchasing the formerly derelict site on which the 1986 Garden Festival was mounted and which has since developed the area for retail, entertainment and light industry. The sculpture symbolises 'the successful regeneration that has been achieved at Festival Park"
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"Francis Gomila (Sculptor, b. 1954)Gomila was the founder and director of Fine Rats International, an artist-led cooperative that enlivened gritty urban locations with sculptures and installations between 1989 and 1993.
Although Gibraltar-born, the artist moved to the UK mainland in 1973 and has since produced his most memorable work there; acclaimed pieces include “The Pace of Recovery” – a stainless steel flying swan mounted on a plinth in Stoke-on-Trent – and “Waiting for Halley’s Comet to Pass”, a flowing circle of metal figures near Birmingham that Gomila has said represents the uncertainty of our times. The artist currently lives in Newcastle." SOURCE: (
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A stone plaque mounted on a brick plinth at the side of the roundabout is inscribed as follows:-
'"THE PACE OF RECOVERY"
UNVEILED BY
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
THE LORD WALKER OF WORCESTER MBE PC
29TH MARCH 1994
St. MOWDEN DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED'Peter Edward Walker, Baron Walker of WorcesterBorn: 25th March 1932, in Middlesex.
Died: 23rd June 2010, in Worcestershire, aged 78.
His full title was The Rt Hon. The Lord Walker of Worcester MBE PC.
He was a British Conservative politician who served in the Cabinet under Edward Heath and Margaret Thatcher.
He served in the Cabinet as;
Environment Secretary (1970–72)
Trade and Industry Secretary (1972–74)
Agriculture Minister (1979–83)
Energy Secretary (1983–87)
Welsh Secretary (1987–90).
He was Member of Parliament for Worcester from 1961 to 1992 and was made a life peer in 1992.
He became the youngest National Chairman of the Young Conservatives in 1958, and was a founder of the Tory Reform Group, and served as Chairman of the Carlton Club.
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