From bare clay rises touching tribute
Four pairs of clay feet ascend a freestanding ladder on a remote Hawke’s Bay farm in memory of a young local man killed in Belgium exactly a century ago.
A long and remarkable series of coincidences led to the ladder standing in the shadow of the Ruahine ranges. Too many to mention, and too many for it to have been anything but fate. They resulted in Michael Hardy commissioning Auckland sculptor Helen Pollock to design a memorial sculpture to his relative, Lance Hardy, for his garden.
Lance, the first cousin of Hardy’s father, grew up on a farm just a few kilometres from Makaretu, where Hardy and wife Jane live, about 30km west of Waipawa.
Private Hardy was killed in action on July 26, 1917, at La BasseVille, near Ypres, Belgium. He was 24, though his headstone wrongly says he was 25.
Michael Hardy, now in his mid70s, had always known Lance’s story.
‘‘When we were young my father told us that a cousin of his, Lance, planted an azalea in the garden of his home the day before he left for war. He was killed pretty well a year to the day of his departure. About a decade ago we were given a seedling, probably a cutting, taken from that plant. It has flowered this year and it is beautiful,’’ Hardy said.
About 10 years ago, Michael and Jane Hardy saw a piece designed by Pollock and decided to make contact.
It led to Jacob’s Ladder, Pollock’s design featuring several terracotta feet ascending a tall, steel ladder.
‘‘It has four pairs of larger-thanlife-sized feet – representing the heroes making the ascent of Jacob’s Ladder,’’ she said.