[26
JUN 00] FRIENDS OF CANLEY FORD NEWS
Ford Becomes Millennium Green
Years
of effort by a group of Coventry volunteers to rejuvenate a beauty
spot came to fruition at the weekend, but thieves marred the occasion.
 Canley
Ford, near Kenilworth Road in Earlsdon, formally became a millennium
green and will belong to the community for the next 999 years.
Hundreds
of people gathered to celebrate the work to improve the area on
Saturday.
But
yesterday the occasion was marred, with two unique sculptures
installed in one of the wild meadows being stolen.
The
carvings by Arts Exchange were due to be embedded in concrete today,
but the thieves got there first.
Adrian
Dyke, chairman of the Friends of Canley Ford, said it had soured the
occasion.
He
said:
“Hopefully
we will be able to get them back as they were lovely pieces of arts.
“We
have taken pictures of them so we will circulate them and see if
someone recognises them.
“It
is possible that it is just vandalism, and they might be in a hedge
somewhere, so we shall continue to look for them.”
Despite
the set-back, Mr Dyke said the weekend had been a great success, with
a lot of people visiting the area to see the changes.
 There
were displays from Cotswold Falconry and local Morris troupe Elephant
Up A Pole.
Nature
groups including the Coventry Bee-keeping Association and Coventry
City Farm brought along some examples of their work – including a
hive of bees and some sheep, and there was also ferret racing.
Work
to improve the wild meadows has been carried out at a cost of £140,000,
most of which came from a special national lottery fund.
It
included a new small waterfall in the ford area. The idea was to
replace a waterfall removed in 1936 to make way for the new A45.
 Other
sculptures have been installed, including an 8ft steel Kestrel by
Walenty Pytel, who also has work on show at Birmingham Airport.
Youngsters
were able to make boats out of Himalayan balsam growing in the area
and fish for newts and other pond life.
Mr
Dyke said:
“It
was very popular. We designed it as a family day and hopefully some
of the people who visited will come back here.
”We
hope people will see it as a place to walk to, rather than come by
car.
”The
last two years have been quite busy. We still have some things to
sort out, but we can take it a bit easier now.”
Anyone
who knows the whereabouts of the stolen carvings, or who wants to
become involved with the Friends of Canley Ford, should contact Mr
Dyke on 024 7667 2884.
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