Images of towers will feature in Gorge celebration
As time ticks away before Ironbridge's cooling towers are demolished, an exhibition showing pictures of the landmark through the years will be on display at a festival in the gorge.
Organised by former Shropshire Star photographer Dave Bagnall, The Electric Landmark exhibition pulls together some remarkable images he has taken, demonstrating how this historic feature of the Gorge has left an imprint on the area for a generation.
The free exhibition will be on display at Coalbrookdale Gallery from September 21 through to October 4 as part of the Festival of Imagination, a celebration of the Ironbridge Gorge past, present and future.
Local people, community groups, visitors, artists and photographers have all been inspired by the towers since their construction in the 1960s – and now their inspiration can be seen in the form of unique pictures captured from various locations around the area.
The towers and the Ironbridge Power Station are set to be demolished by the end of 2019, so the festival may be one of the last chances for people to see the landmark structures from the Gorge while they are still standing.
“My interest in the towers themselves started when I went up to the top of the final tower as it was being completed to take pictures for the Shropshire Star newspaper,” said Dave.
“I went up in a lift, and as you can imagine that was actually quite a hairy experience.
“Over the years they have grown on me and I have photographed them an awful lot of times. They are a bit like hide and seek as you walk around the Gorge, one minute they’re there and the next they’re not.
“Whether you love or hate the towers, there’s no denying they are a pretty weird thing to see in a green valley like this and the pictures I have taken show how they have been a backdrop for the Ironbridge Gorge for a whole generation of people, and as they’ll soon be gone now feels like a good time to pull this exhibition together.”
The Festival of Imagination launches at the weekend and runs from September 14 to 29 with a variety of activities taking place.
From poetry, arts, crafts, music and film to futuristic virtual reality, coracles and world record breaking bridges, the Gorge will be a hive to fun and activities.
The festival kicks off on Saturday evening with of folk music and street food at the Maws Craft Centre at 6.30pm. Tickets are £11 and there is plenty of undercover seating and free parking.
Also starting on Saturday and running for the length of the festival is an exhibition of the work of the Ironbridge Coracle Trust, including the plans for the new Coracle Centre at the Greenwood Centre.
The Festival Hub at Dale End Park will include a large yurt which will be hosting a variety of events as well as a bar and areas to relax in.
The Gorge’s retailers, tradesfolk, businesses, organisations and clubs will be breaking out on to the Wharfage and into the Square when they take over the road between 11am and 4pm on Saturday, September 21.
Spearheaded by the Ironbridge Gorge Business Consortium the free day will show off and provide a family day of fun, activity, food and music for visitors.
The event will include brewing, busking, puppetry, paella, supercars, competitions and street entertainment.
Councillor Carolyn Healy, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for visitor economy & the world heritage said: “We really can’t wait for the festival to get underway. It’s taken a lot of planning to extend the World Heritage Festival across two weeks, but it will all be worth it. This is going to be the perfect celebration of the Ironbridge Gorge’s story.
“It’s is a unique and remarkable place and it’s only right we do something like the Festival of Imagination to mark this.”
The Festival of Imagination is organised by Telford & Wrekin Council and Discover Shropshire & Telford.
To see a full list of events and to book please visit www.ironbridgefestival.co.uk
