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See Updates below...
Carving is well under way on a new monument by Croston Carvers to local hero Jeremiah Horrocks. In 1639 Horrocks predicted and was the first to observe the Transit of Venus from near his home in Bretherton, Lancashire.
Transits of Venus occur every 121 years and come along in twos, the last one was in 1882 – so no living person has every witnessed a transit. The next will be in 2012 but only visible in the southern hemisphere, after that the next will be 2117. Horrocks’ name follows those of Copernicus and Kepler in the history books, and his monument in Westminster Abbey sits prominantly above that of Newton.
The sandstone monument will sit on a site between the village of Bretherton and Carr House where Horrocks made his historic observation.
Mark Farrar, one of the Croston Carvers:
"I’ve been intrigued by the story for a number of years, Horrocks story is an inspirational one, he was very young and working with home made instruments, rushing back from his work as a curate he had short time on a November Sunday to make his observations, hopefully this years transit will help more people learn about his remarkable story."
Croston Carvers who have taught themselves the ancient skills of stone carving and completed a number of commissions, their latest being a stone which will mark the 10 year anniversary of the foundation of Derian House in Chorley. The group formed four years ago to create a millennium milestone which now sits on Croston Village Green.
Kath Almond, local Parish Councillor and member of group:
"We are local people who find a lot of satisfaction in creating something permanent it started with the millennium stone and we had so many ideas that we just carried on. Doing a stone for Horrocks has been an idea we’ve had since the start. We are trying to find somewhere to work in the village, so if anyone has a workshop space we could get stones in and out of then we’d love to hear from them."
The Transit of Venus can be seen from 5.20am to 11.23am on Tuesday 8th June, and the stone will be in place by then.
Notes to Editors:
Photo Opportunity, the Carvers are happy to be photographed with the stone, contact Kath or Mark (numbers below).
Croston Carvers started 4 years ago working with Lakes based Carver and artist Boris Howarth. Commissions and stones have included; Millennium Stone, Croston Village Green; Golden Jubilee Stone, Astley Park, Chorley; a series of waymarkers in and around the village of Croston marking history and stories from local people; a date stone for Croston Old School; Orchard Mill marker for Belway Homes.
The stone for Derian House is now complete and will be positioned in the grounds in the next few weeks. For more information contact Kath Almond.
Croston Carvers take commissions and undertake projects, apply for funding to arts bodies and take commercial commissions. We are seeking a workshop where we can carve, currently we use borrowed space in barns on local farms. For further information contact Kath Almond on 01772 600368.
Horrocks was born in Toxteth, Liverpool and came to Hoole in 1639 where he worked as a lay-clerk in the church and as a tutor to the children of the Stones family at Carr House, Bretheron. Just 3 years after predicting and observing the transit he died in his early 20’s.
Contacts
Croston Carvers; Kath Almond 01772 600368
Mark Farrar; mob 07736 814762
For information about the Transit of Venus visit the Parish of Hoole website at www.hooleCEchurch.org.uk, or Astley Hall Chorley who have a major exhibition about Horrocks.
| June 7 | Just been over to Much Hoole and Bretherton, the sun has been shining and there is a buzz of anticipation around, well at least from the folk I spoke to, they reckon over 400 people will be at the Church at Much Hoole to see the transit. Our stone is looking great on a bend in the road, a great location just opposite the war memorial. I will be at my kids school, will have 3 telescopes set up to project the sun onto small commemorative certificates and will be aiming to get all 900 kids in the school to see the transit before lunch time! |
| June 5 | Well, the stone is about completed, with much late night tapping from Kath and Marlene. We were featured on BBC Radio Lancashire the other day, interviewed and quizzed about why we wanted to carve a stone. A big thanks to Mr. Dave Massam and Geoff Almond of Croston who've dug the hole and sorted out the site and to Anderton and Kitchen who've helped us move the stone to it's site in Bretherton... and especially to June at the farm without who's help and generosity it would not have been possible. Pictures to follow. The sun has been shining here in Lancashire and the forecast is good for Tuesday. |
| May 31 | Work on the stone to Horrocks is progressing, members of the group have been at the farm where we're carving the stone, although Mabel is at a wedding up in Scotland and Marlene and Sue from Mawdsley have been busy this weekend- so it's been Kath and I. The other big project we've had on was sited at Derian House a local childrens hospice, this stone marked the 10th anniversary of the centre- so hopefully there'll be something in the Chorley Guardian about that. Last week some of the members of Bretherton Parish Council came along and talked through where best to site the Horrocks stone. After completing the letterforms this week we've started on the image of venus going across the disc of the sun, this will be the main job this week. The next challenge for us will be getting it to Bretherton and in the ground, we plan to do this before the 8th and will be hoping that we can rope in a few people to get a hole dug, concrete mixed and tractors at the ready. Bretherton based artist and scultptor Thomas Dagnall has also completed a magnificent stone which now sits at the Apiary in Bretherton, his has an image of the sun and 'edge of leet'- a local name given to the village. |
Mark Farrar, Croston Carvers. 31/5/04
markf.ybuk@btopenworld.com