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5 etched and shaped stainless steel sculptures are planned for sites along the Llangollen Canal and Montgomery Canal reflecting the landscape in which they each sit as interpreted by artist Jason Hicklin. The total series of etchings which are integral to the sculptures are exhibited in the Qube in Oswestry until the end of March. A signed limited series of etchings have been produced by the artist. There are also some new postcards of the key images. (there is older information about this project under Llangollen Canal World Heritage Site in 'Weston Rhyn') "Jason Hicklin, based in Shropshire and London, is taking his etching work out of the studio and gallery and into the landscape. His work is based on the landscape of the British Isles and The Canal Etchings are inspired by walks along the Shropshire Union Canal in 2011. Casual visitors along this canal can experience Jason Hicklin’s sculpture pieces, each an individual response to the landscape and the history of the place in which it stands. It is hoped to have 2 sculptures in Chirk Bank, one in the proposed new car park in Gledrid and one smaller etching on the embankment above Avondale. We are hoping that the first sculpture to be sited will be unveiled in Llanymynech at the end of April, but various problems with the steel manufacturer are causing delays so watch this space. We do not intend to install anything in Gledrid/Chirk Bank until the new car park is built and are waiting to hear from Shropshire Council about when that will go ahead. In the mean time the website which is being developed about the project has just gone live. It tells you a lot more about the project, but please, please bear in mind that it is a work in progress over the next couple of weeks and yes we know there are things wrong with it! However if you are still spotting glitches and mistakes by mid April then let me know about it then. The idea is to inspire people to visit all the sculptures and encourage them out into the canal network on foot or by cycle. The sculptures will look very different as the year turns so repeat visits at different seasons and photography will also be a continuing part of the project. We also aim to provide accurate and trustworthy historical information, or links to accurate sites, within this website; as opposed to a lot of the garbage written online about canals that's out there and confusing people. http://thecanaletchings.com/index.htm

Has anyone got any ideas about what we can do to improve Chirk Bank for the residents? Chirk Bank Community Group have been raising money, and would now quite like to spend some of it on ourselves. One idea would be to plant some bulbs around the village. But what do you think?

Am off tomorrow to a conference on new media and heritage interpretation. But I thought that a few of the geeks and historians who read this site might also be interested, and, as the conference has a hot new blog site with all talks on it and tweets and all I am posting the link. Last year we got to play with 3D scanners which was very exciting so expect there will be lots of interesting things this year. http://digitalpast2012.blogspot.com/ and now all the papers are available on this site; lots of nice pictures in powerpoints.