HUGE KNIFE ANGEL NOW IN PLACE IN TOWN CENTRE

News Reporter

THE towering Knife Angel sculpture is now in place in Nuneaton town centre.

It arrived on cranes just before 6am on June 1 and just over an hour later, the imposing piece of art was lifted into its temporary new home in Market Place.

A small crowd momentarily held its breath as the 27ft sculpture, which had made its way from Crewe, was lowered onto the spot where the lilypad fountain once stood. The sculpture is made of 100,000 confiscated blades.

It was placed onto a special podium, which is surrounded by fencing.

It is quite the coup for Nuneaton to be chosen as a destination for the sculpture’s 2023 tour of towns and cities across the country. Organisers hope that the thoughtprovoking piece of art created by artist Alfie Bradley and the British Ironworks Centre, will not only attract visitors - but also spark conversations about knife crime.

The sculpture already has a connection with Nuneaton as one of the 100,000 blades bears the name of Morgan Hehir, who was tragically stabbed on Halloween night in 2015.

Morgan’s dad, Colin, inscribed his son’s name and his hashtag ‘Grut Forever’ onto a cleaver that was then welded onto the huge, imposing sculpture when it was first being created in Oswestry back in 2017.

Its arrival in the town centre will kick-start a number of different events across the borough, including in secondary schools, where police will host a number of engagement sessions to help hit home important messages about the dangers of knife crime - and its devastating impact.

Sergeant Roy Walker, who was in the town centre to witness the arrival of the sculpture, said it had an important role to play. “Seeing it lying on the lorry it didn’t seem that big but now it is in place, it is very impressive and also very thought provoking,” Sgt Walker said.