The 'Gold Belt' is a public sculpture located in a walkway underneath the Vicarage Road bridge,

Nuneaton Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire to the north-east.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...

, England. The walkway links Riversley Park and the George Eliot Memorial Gardens. The 'Gold Belt' was produced as a result of a project between local artist Alisha Miller,

Warwickshire County Council Warwickshire County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Warwickshire in England. Its headquarters are at Shire Hall in the centre of Warwick, the county town. The council's principal functions are county ro ...

and

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire to the north-east.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...

in 2003. The 'Gold Belt' represents a

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

leather belt Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

. This reinforces a local connection through Nuneaton's mining heritage and also links to the Union Wool and Leather Factory that used to be located on the site of a supermarket close to Riversley Park. The work was inspired by the motto, "a good reputation is better than a belt of gold", of Edward Melly who donated the park to the people of Nuneaton in 1907.

The Project

With financial support from the

Countryside Agency The Countryside Agency was a statutory body set up in England in 1999 with the task of improving the quality of the rural environment and the lives of those living in it. The agency was dissolved in 2006 and its functions dispersed among other bo ...

and the Local Authorities, a project developed allowing for research into the local area, community workshops and reminiscence activities. The research included identifying a spot suitable and meaningful for the sculpture. The bridge was identified as a space that could be transformed through having public artwork. The workshops involved local children and students and were held at Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery. Historical talks were given and the participants worked with Miller to produce artwork of local scenes. Some of these local scenes are featured on the belt, along with drawings produced by Miller of other local public artwork and features. A reminiscence session was held at Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery, sharing photographs and memories with the older community members. These memories were collected and featured alongside the images on the belt. The work was unveiled by the mayor of Nuneaton, Ian Lloyd, on 11 October 2003.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Alisha Miller's page on the work
*
Bridging Time
' (explanatory pamphlet)
Wikimapia page with images
Outdoor sculptures in England Nuneaton 2003 sculptures Individual signs 2003 establishments in England