The Coalisland & East Tyrone – Great Place Scheme provided heritage skills training bursaries for 18 people. During the late summer and early autumn of 2021, the participants worked under strict social distancing and Covid-19 controls and completed courses in:
GLASS CUTTING with Tyrone Crafted Glass, Coalisland.
BLACKSMITHING with Moneypenny’s Forge, Portadown.
STONE CARVING with Jonny Kerr.
With the support of the heritage craft bursary, trainee blacksmiths from Newmills worked along with Jonny Kerr, Moneypenny’s Forge, to create his fantastic metal sculpture called “Tommy”. The sculpture can be seen in the Newmills Community Wildlife Garden.
The figure represents a veteran serviceman home from war and returning to his farm, reflecting the Biblical verse “…they shall beat their swords into ploughshares” and it fits with the commemorative themes represented in the rest of Wildlife Garden.
Sculptor Jonny Kerr speaks to Anne Marie McAleese about the recently unveiled sculpture in the Newmills Wildlife Garden.