April 2010

Peace Plough at St Cuthbert's

Easter saw something new at the Centre - a ten foot long sculpture which had travelled from Garstang in Lancashire, now taking a prominent place in the garden just by the gateway.

The Peace Plough is the inspiration of Susan Andrews, who is already more than familiar with the Centre and its garden. For it is Susan who as a regular visitor has transformed the garden over the past two years, ripping out old and dying plants and weeds, digging and fertilising the soil, and planting easy-to-care-for new plants appropriate for a seaside garden which bears the brunt of Holy Island’s winters. And through all this work Susan has developed the garden into place of rest and restoration. 

Susan's inspiration comes from the verse from Isaiah which reads

They will hammer their swords into ploughs and their spears into pruning knives.
Nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again.

She explains, " The idea for this sculpture has been floating around in my head for over five years. To bring it to fruition, I needed a professional artist to interpret my dream and then a blacksmith to undertake the metalwork.

"The internet has been a major source of information. It has supplied me with websites for every requirement, ranging from decommissioned guns to slave chains.

"About one sixth of the world’s population is short of food. The chief causes are war and natural disasters. Billions of pounds are spent on wars by many nations of the world.

"The Peace Plough is my personal plea to  stop the fighting and use money and manpower to improve life for people in their own and in other countries.

"We are the only species in the world that has the ability to change the way we think and act.   May this sculpture help, even in a small way, to achieve this."

The plough will remain on display in the Centre garden over the summer months.

Visitors are asked to look out for various features:-

• A Roman sword and a spear – a reminder of Jesus whose violent death still inspires people to work and pray for peace and justice
• A belt of bullets following the curve of the height adjuster
• Ammunition magazines
• Two knives – symbols of the street violence in our own relatively peaceful island
• Pineapples, after which hand grenades are named
• Slave chains remind us of our own sad history of war and exploitation
• A pruning knife, still used in many parts of the world.
• A grenade storage box.

As the Peace Plough was installed over the Easter weekend, Centre Director Barry Hutchinson said "Susan has crowned her achievements in this garden with the Peace Plough, which we have heard about over a long period of time, and which is now firmly a part of this quiet and reflective place.  We are all truly thankful for her vision and her generosity in bringing it here for the next few months."