Famous visitor LS Lowry comes back to seaside

The famous artist will be commemorated with a statue of one of his famously painted matchstick men and his dog, which will be located on the ferry slip included in several of Lowry’s paintings.

The project, which was given £2,000 by Wyre Council and a further £3,000 by Preesall Town Council, comes as part of Wyre Council’s ‘shaping your neighbourhood’ initiative which was set up to benefit residents in Wyre.

The statue, which is being made by designer Tom Elliot from architectural company M-tec, will be made from stainless steel and stand at more than 5ft tall.

Mayor of Preesall Philip Orme said: “We decided this year that instead of having a mayor’s charity we would work towards a project and the whole idea of it was to get more people into the village and give them something to look at, so hopefully, fingers crossed, it works.

“There has been flood protection work done on the sea wall and there is a platform on that where the statue will go.

“M-tec has been great because they are actually doing the project at a miniscule of what the cost would have been because they are doing it as an apprenticeship scheme and the designer Tom is a local man in Hambleton who wanted to do a local project.”

It has been reported that LS Lowry often stayed in the boarding houses on the front in Knott End and used the Ferry slip in several of his paintings famously known as ‘The Ferry Slip at Knott End’ and ‘The Lunevale’.

Lowry, whose full name was Laurence Stephen, was an English artist born in Stretford and became famous for painting scenes of life in the industrial districts of North West England in the mid-20th century.

He developed a distinctive style of painting and is best known for his urban landscapes peopled with human figures often referred to as “matchstick men”.

It is hoped that the statue, which will be mounted on a patch of cobbles, will be installed by the start of May and will be accompanied by visitor information boards explaining the artist’s connection to the area.