The Enthusiastic Elephant …..

….. Who ferried himself across the water with a kitchen poker and a new pair of ear-rings.

An end of afternoon visit to Kirkby town centre. It’s a major regeneration project for Knowsley Council, and a real challenge. The big positives are that the Council have acquired the centre from the private owners, have got a plan in place, and have managed to do a deal with a major food store so that the town now has a supermarket. Previously residents had to travel some distance to buy food. There is a lot still to do, but it’s a good start.,

The Council are also seeing culture as a way to engage residents and give a sense of pride of place. This sculpture is a result of sculptor Brian Fell working with local school kids and residents, and celebrates Edward Lear’s association with the area. The Earl of Derby commissioned him to draw the animals in his menagerie at Knowsley Hall between 1832 and 1836. Lear was a superb artist as well as a writer of nonsense verse (and inventor of the limerick). As I held my phone up to take this pic two lads on pushbikes cycled past. “It’s good int it” said one, That’s quite an accolade I think.

Knowsley has been in the news these last couple of days for the wrong reasons. Far right supporters demonstrating/rioting outside a hotel being used to house asylum seekers. Knowsley is the second most deprived borough in England. It is incendiary to be putting asylum seekers up in this form of accommodation when 1 in 4 of the local residents are living in poverty. If I was being cynical I would say that the government is deliberately trying to stir up hostility and to direct people’s anger at “outsiders”. It’s not good.