A NEW piece of public art which honours three heroes of a Northumberland town is about to be officially unveiled as part of a nationwide drive to get more people to walk and cycle.
The Portrait Bench – whose three characters were chosen in a poll by local people – will go on show in Bedlington on September 10.
The artwork honours local animal welfare campaigner Mary Weightman, former GP John Brown and locomotive designer Sir Daniel Gooch.
It will be installed in Bedlington’s Gallagher Park and is part of a national network of public art created by sustainable transport charity Sustrans.
They all adorn new lottery-funded sections of Sustrans’ national cycle network in communities across the UK.
The Bedlington bench will sit alongside a section of cycleway that provides a safe, traffic-free route into the town centre from Bedlington Station.
The official unveiling will feature a range of stalls and activities for people to enjoy, including woodland crafts and a treasure hunt.
Yesterday, Bryn Dowson, Sustrans’ North East regional director, said: “Public artwork helps to make our routes more attractive and interesting.
“And everyone enjoys getting out on their bikes much more when they enjoy the environment around them. Bedlington residents have chosen a selection of characters that show a real mix of the history of the town, and will be a fantastic reminder to future generations about the area they live in.”
Mary Weightman – who was born in Bedlington in 1906 and died six years ago – was awarded an MBE in 1998 for her selfless work with the charity People’s Animal Welfare Service (PAWS).
A lifelong animal lover who joined the RSPCA as a young woman, Mrs Weightman and a friend, Charles Beaumont, established PAWS in 1954 and raised the money to open a clinic in Millbank Road, Bedlington.
It provided care for injured and sick pets whose owners could not afford to pay vets’ fees.
After retiring from the day-to-day running of the charity, Mary actively continued to raise funds for its work.
Local GP Dr John Brown served the community for more than 50 years.
He gave up much of his time to voluntarily help the town’s mining community, teaching miners first aid and often going down the pits himself to treat injured workers.
Daniel Gooch grew up in Bedlington and learned his trade at the town’s ironworks.
He went on to work for Brunel and designed and produced more than 340 locomotives, including the Great Western. He then helped to engineer the first telegraph cable under the Atlantic Ocean, linking the UK and USA.
A similar Portrait Bench in Blyth will see comedian Stan Laurel, PC David Rathband, who was shot and blinded by Raoul Moat, and Guardsman Michael Sweeney, who was killed in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province last year, honoured.
The new cycling and walking routes in Northumberland are part of a national project allowing people to make their everyday journeys to work, school or the shops safely and easily without having to rely on a car. It received £50m from the Big Lottery Fund.
