Calls for Shrewsbury to host Knife Angel
It is time for Shropshire's county town to step up and host the Knife Angel, according to the man behind the iconic sculpture.
The statue, made from more than 100,000 knife blades, arrived in Newtown yesterday and now Clive Knowles, chairman of the British Ironwork Centre in Oswestry, is throwing down the gauntlet to Shrewsbury.
With plans in the pipeline for the Knife Angel to travel to Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Wight in the future, Mr Knowles said it is time for Shrewsbury to step up.
"Shrewsbury has no excuse now," he said. "It's been all over the country but hasn't been to the county town.
"It's time to throw the gauntlet down and have it in Shrewsbury. It would look absolutely amazing in The Square.
"Maybe the town leaders thought if people wanted to see it they could just come to Oswestry as it's so close but it should go to Shrewsbury. They should get behind it and really support the message that the Knife Angel promotes.
"Other places close to home have hosted it, like Chester and now Newtown. Telford will have it in March so Shrewsbury should have it too."
However the Knife Angel's schedule for 2020 is full and is now not available until June 2021.
"I'm constantly getting letters of interest from all over the county," Mr Knowles added.
"I've recently had an enquiry from Belfast. I'd love to see it there because we had knives from Northern Ireland surrendered.
"Most recently I've had a call from the Isle of Wight too. It would be amazing to see it go on a Ferry over there."
Leader of Shrewsbury Town Council, Alan Mosley said he will ensure it is discussed by the council at a meeting on January 13.
"It is something we will look at for the future," he said.
"It would be of great interest to local people. I've seen it in Oswestry and it's a fabulous sculpture.
"There is a meeting of the finances and general purposes committee later this month and I will ensure it goes on the agenda to test out opinion.
"Personally I see it as something that would bring great value to the town, because of the message about knife crime and as an extremely interesting piece of art."
