Hoardings up with pupils’ art as shopping mall’s demolition approaches and Nelson features saved
a mosaic and Admiral Nelson sculpture inside are being saved for future use, reflecting a campaign by local residents to preserve them.
Last updated 23 hours ago
Hoardings with art inspired by Pendle high school pupils have been put up around a town shopping centre, ahead of its demolition in a major regeneration scheme.
And a mosaic and Admiral Nelson sculpture inside are being saved for future use, reflecting a campaign by local residents to preserve them.
The Pendle Rise centre in Nelson now has hoardings around it featuring imagery by local secondary school students and artist Emmeline North. Workers recently fitted graphics around the site, featuring angular and curving patterns reflecting buildings, architecture drawings, Pendle hills and countryside.
The mall was originally built in the 1960s as an Arndale Centre. But it is being demolished as part of the £25m Nelson Town Deal. However, its floor mosaic of a compass and Admiral Nelson sculpture are to be kept.
Nelson residents asked for these to be saved and used in the new Pendle Rise development, to celebrate the town’s history. Last autumn, Mark Cook, who lives in the town, took a petition to Pendle Council about the mosaic and recalling playing around it as a boy.
Speaking recently ahead of the mall’s demolition, Coun Asjad Mahmood, thye council’s deputy leader and a Nelson Town Deal board member, said: “In the 1960s it was customary for new Arndale developments to incorporate an item of local interest. For Pendle Rise it was decided to feature the local connection with Lord Nelson – a bust of the man himself and a compass depicting his nautical career.
“Many residents have fond memories of running around the compass as children. And given its association with Admiral Nelson, the compass is a very relevant item to keep and conserve. A Lord Nelson bust is positioned above where the former Boots chemist shop was located. We appreciate they are both pieces of Nelson’s history and agree with residents that they should be preserved.”
Stephen Barnes, chairman of the Nelson Town Deal, added: “It’s imperative we save these artefacts depicting Nelson’s history and incorporate them into the town’s future. It’s great that residents feel the same and still want them on display for years to come.”
The town name of Nelson is relatively modern and is understood to have arisen in the Victorian era, linked to the opening of a railway station, now Nelson station, near the Lord Nelson Inn. Marsden is the older name for the area which also included Brierfield.
In recent weeks, workers have done a ‘soft strip-out ‘at Pendle Rise, including the compass and bust. Main demolition work will start in mid-April. The remaining shops that were based inside have been relocated over the winter or offered other deals.