The Unlock sculpture is next to the canal towpath in an area that forms part of Greenheart Regional Park in the borough of Wigan. A number of areas within the Borough with old industrial heritage are being regenerated into public open spaces. Next to this site is Pennington Flash, an area of open water that was formed from mining subsidence and now a nature reserve and bird reserve.
The sculptor Thompson Dagnall created the sculpture and his website has the following comment:
"Unlocked is a book holding the secrets and stories of the canals. I aim to use the physical presence of the lock gates to stimulate each traveller’s memories of the canals and hint at the vast library of tales yet to be unearthed.
The sculpture will dominate the viewer and give a taste of the feeling of entering a lock.
The aim of this sculpture is to capture the essence of the canals in an up close and personal way."
Two benches line the canal near “Unlock” carved into them is “Greenheart-Northern soul”. Greenheart is the project of which the sculpture and Northern soul refers to the power of the local people as well as the music that originated in Wigan."
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