Marcus Vergette, the sculptor who has created the national programme of Time and Tide Bells, will visit Morecambe Bay Community Primary School on the 21st and 22nd May to lend a half bell to the school in preparation for the fund-raising campaign to bring a Time & Tide Bell to
Morecambe.
The Time and Tide Bell project seeks to raise public awareness of the threat of climate change. Five bells have been placed in coastal waters around the UK so far and each one chimes as the tide rises. Plans for a sixth bell at Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire are well advanced and Morecambe is in a race with Brixham, Devon to see which will become the home of the 7th bell.
Morecambe Artist Colony, the promoters of the project, received planning permission in October to place the bell on the Stone Jetty and bids are being prepared to raise the funding for the installation and other costs. The bells themselves are donated from funds endowed
by sponsors of the sculptor.
Marcus Vergette said:
“I am so pleased that Morecambe Artist Colony has taken up this project as Morecambe Bay is such a beautiful setting for the Time and Tide Bell. I look forward to working with your community later this year to create a Morecambe inscription for the bell’s clapper.”
Siobhan Collingwood, Head Teacher said:
“It is future generations who will be affected by climate change so it is important that our children learn about it now. Having the bell in our playground will be great in supporting our teaching on this topic.”
Kathryn MacDonald, Chair of Morecambe Artist Colony said:
“People think that climate change is only happening somewhere else in the world but it is happening now, in our own waters. Art installations like the Time and Tide bell are a perfect way to draw attention to the issue.”
There will ultimately be 10-12 bells installed altogether at coastal points around the UK. Each bell has been developed in consultation with the local community who have jointly composed the inscriptions for the bells’ clappers. The first bell was installed in July 2009 at Appledore, Devon: the second on Bosta beach Gt. Bernera, Outer Hebrides in June 2010: a third at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London (opposite the O2 Dome) in September 2010, the fourth was installed in Aberdyfi, Wales, July 2011 and the fifth at Cemaes, Anglesey in 2014.
Morecambe Artist Colony are hoping to raise enough money to include an interpretation panel so visitors and residents can know more about the threat of climate change and its relevance to Morecambe Bay. We are also seeking volunteers to help with fundraising activities or
to attend workshops to develop the inscription for Morecambe’s bell.
MAC is very grateful to Morecambe BID for a contribution to the funding and to Volker Stevin for the advice received on the engineering and installation plans. Volker Stevin are the contractors for the new Sea Wall around Morecambe.