the Wastelands, sketchbook,Sheffield 1988
At junction 34,the motorway,a blue snake,loops east of Sheffield.
It was autumn in the valley of the Don,and the bricks were falling like leaves.
In the desolation that was Attercliffe,only the walls of gutted factories were left standing,enclosing empty lots.
Scrapyards overflowed, untidy metal nests, wedged between junctions,under railway arches,and overhanging canals.
Returning to Sheffield,old iron and steel is trundled,rumbled,grabbed and and humbled,on its way to a new incarnation.
In Grimesthorpe and Brightside,from Bessamer to Cyclops road ,past Vulcan works and out to Carsbrook,lone buildings tremble as the demolition machines crunch caterpillar closer.
The brick strewn plains,and dead cats in sacks lands of Attercliffe,await regeneration.
The view of the proposed sculpture site, from my workshop window at Sheffield Science Park.
Excerpts from David Kemps sketchbook, Autumn 1988.
