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Notes

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Seven steel 'stick-man' figures pushing boulders of coal uphill in homage to the generations of miners who worked at Wearmouth Colliery where the Stadium of Light now stands.

Title

Men of Steel

Date

2001

Medium

steel

Accession number

SR5_GL_S074

Acquisition method

commissioned by One NorthEast

Work type

Sculpture

Owner

Sunderland Football Club

Custodian

Sunderland Football Club

Work status

extant

Access

at all times

Access note

Access to the statues can be made from either the car park at the Stadium of Light or from the Riverside footpath. The bankside is very steep and overgrown with grass and brambles.

Inscription description

MEN OF STEEL /HEAVY INDUSTRY HAS BEEN A VITAL PART OF THE NORTH EASTS HISTORY FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS / GENERATIONS OF FAMILIES HAVE BEEN DEPENDENT ON THIS INDUSTRY AND HAVE DEDICATED THEIR LIVES TO THE INDUSTRIES OF COAL, STEEL AND SHIPBUILDING. / THE LAND BENEATH US TODAY IS WHERE THE ONCE GREAT WEARMOUTH COLLIERY STOOD, AT THE HEART OF SUNDERLAND AND THE COMMUNITY. / HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MEN WORKED HERE SPENDING EVERY DAY ON THIS LAND UNTIL THE COAL INDUSTRY DECLINED AND WEARMOUTH ALONG WITH OTHER PITS IN THE DURHAM COALFIELD, CLOSED ITS DOORS FOR THE LAST TIME IN 1993. / THIS MEN OF STEEL SCULPTURE WAS DESIGNED BY ARTIST BLACKSMITH GRAHAM HOPPER AND SPONSORED BY ONE NORTH EAST TO PAY TRIBUTE TO THIS GREAT AREAS INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE. / A VISIONARY ARTWORK IT FEATURES SEVEN STEEL FIGURES HAULING GIANT COALS FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE BANK TO THE TOP. / ALL THE FIGURES ARE DIFFERENT ILLUSTRATING INDIVIDUALITY - BUT ALL SEVEN ARE UNITED IN A COMMON GOAL, REPRESENTING SOCIAL STRUGGLE AND THE WILL TO SURVIVE AGAINST THE ODDS. / THE GROUP DEPICTS THE COMMUNITY SPIRIT OF THE NORTH EAST REGION. AND THE SENSE OF CAMARADERIE THAT BOUND THEM TOGETHER THROUGH THE GOOD TIMES AND THE BAD. IT SYMBOLISES HOEP AND ACHIEVEMENT AND IS A FITTING REMINDER OF THE STRUGGLES OF OUR FOREBEARS.

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