Time & Tide bell sculptor visits Morecambe school

The Time and Tide Bell project seeks to raise public awareness of the threat of climate change.

Five bells have been placed in coastal waters around the UK so far and each one chimes as the tide rises.

Plans for a sixth bell at Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, are well advanced and Morecambe is in a race with Brixham, Devon to see which will become the home of the seventh bell.

Morecambe Artist Colony, the promoters of the project, received planning permission in October to place the bell on the Stone Jetty and bids are being prepared to raise the funding for the installation and other costs.

The bells themselves are donated from funds endowed by sponsors of the sculptor.

Marcus Vergette said: “I am so pleased that Morecambe Artist Colony has taken up this project as Morecambe Bayis such a beautiful setting for the Time and Tide Bell.

“I look forward to working with your community later this year to create a Morecambe inscription for the bell’s clapper.”

Head Siobhan Collingwood said: “It is future generations who will be affected by climate change so it is important that our children learn about it now.

“Having the bell in our playground will be great in supporting ourteaching on this topic.”

Kathryn MacDonald, chair of Morecambe Artist Colony, said: “People think that climate change is only happening somewhere else in the world but it is happening now, in our own waters.

“Art installations like the Time and Tide bell are a perfect way to draw attention to the issue.”

Visit www.timeandtidebell.co.uk or www.morecambeartistcolony.org.