As possibly the last of the warm weather is running out on what has been our best summer for years, I thought I’d have a quick wander round some of the ‘newer’ public art in my home town. The first is Terris Novalis, by Tony Craggs. This sculpture consists of two massively enlarged stainless steel engineering instruments but are often miss-described as the ‘telescopes, The sculpture has used materials to acknowledge the former importance of steel to the town of Consett – although its far too shiny to represent the ‘red’ most people associate with the former Steel Works. It was installed in 1997 on the Sea to Sea cycle route between Whitehaven and Sunderland and is owned by Sustrans (‘sustainable-transport’ charity which created the cycle path).I got up early to catch the early morning ‘autumn’ sun lighting up the statues and had them all to my self as I took the photos.Secondly are the ‘Old Transformers’ by David Kemp which are sited on a rocky outcrop, at East Castle near Leadgate. The heads are of two Industrial giants, an IRONMASTER (above) and a COAL  MINER (below). Again the statues were commissioned and owned by Sustrans in 1990. They were built by the artist in the old N.E.E.B .yard at Wallsend,from a yard filled with obsolete  components  that once powered the heavy industries of the NE, Coal Mining ,Steelmaking, & shipbuilding.There are many more wonderful pieces of public art in the area, some more owned by Sustrans and many others owned by local authorities, local factories and Education establishments. I think this could be a little project to keep me busy over the winter months!