00:00Right, good morning everyone. Morning. Morning. Good afternoon. Oh, it's afternoon of course.
00:08That's a good start. It's still morning for some of us. Don't worry, I'll edit that Mr Mayor.
00:17It's a real pleasure to be here with you all today to celebrate the restoration of one of
00:29our city's most distinctive and much-loved landmarks, the Tolkien Gates.
00:35We're here with Tim Tolkien and Tim, rather special, well first off rather special name.
00:42Tolkien, it's not just a coincidence, it's the bloodline of you know the great Tolkien that we all know.
00:47Yeah, so he was my great uncle. It's been interesting to be part of that legacy the whole of my life.
00:54Always a pleasure or sometimes a pain in the bum?
00:57Always a pleasure, always a pleasure. It's open doors and makes conversation.
01:02Yeah, yeah. Talk us about these gates then. You made these gates, this is what you do.
01:08You're a craftsman, an artist. When were these originally made, Tim?
01:11This was an interesting project. It was originally commissioned through Groundworks Trust,
01:16Groundwork Birmingham Black Country as they were then. And I was put together with Wolverhampton
01:23University Fine Arts as Social Practice students. And they were learning how to work with young
01:33people. And so we were both then working with sixth form at Semesto School. So it was a sort of
01:39a three-way, from my point of view, a three-way project. And out of that came the designs which
01:48I pulled together into the design for the gates. And then I had to go away and make them.
01:53So what was your, were you given a fairly free rein as to what to include?
01:57Yes, I mean, it was obviously relevant to the site. At this time, which is represented in the
02:03centrepiece, at this time, this was still the Wolverhampton City Council central nursery.
02:10So they grew all the plants here, the greenhouses were all over there, grew all the plants for all
02:15the borders and the planting in the parks and stuff. That then changed and gets outsourced these
02:21days. The greenhouses all went down and it became a nature reserve at that time.
02:26And it's fair to say, you know, they needed a spruce up. The column on the one side had failed.
02:34They were looking very sad. And it was very, it was, you make something and you send it off into
02:42the world and it has a life of its own. And you get them with the next thing and the next thing.
02:45But you sort of know where all your bits and bobs are. But yeah, this, there was a very strong
02:51community group here, which, which looks after the gates, wrote, kept their profile alive.
02:58This whole site was going to go for housing at one point. And they campaigned very long and hard
03:02to, to, if that was going to happen, that we needed to save the gates. And along that process,
03:07I got back involved and had another look at the gates and substantially they're still very sound.
03:11And the foundation on one side had failed and we put a bid together to, to, to restore them and
03:16give them a coat of paint and, and, and make them resplendent again. So how does it feel when
03:21something you've created becomes, you know, so beloved of the community that must feel heartwarming?
03:27It's the sort of project that I've been involved in. Maybe I'm very lucky or maybe it's, it's some of the
03:30way I do things, but I'm not the sort of person that just plonks something in an area. It's got to
03:36belong to the area. It's just a project becomes a site specific piece. It's very much about the
03:42people who are going to live around it and look after it. So it belongs to them at the end of the
03:46day. Yeah. And if you get that bit right, then they look after it. So just talk us through some
03:51of the features we've got here then. Is that a hair and eye spy? Yeah, you've got it. That, that,
03:55that almost looks like Terry. It's like a bit, a bit of an uncanny with his little hat on actually.
03:59Yeah. Yeah. It's how he's been looking after the gates. But yeah, so you've got a mixture of flora
04:04and fauna. Over there you've got the groundworks team sort of doing some maintenance and trimming.
04:09Yeah. And you've got the line, you've got the line of houses. You've got, you've got the windmill
04:15over there. There's some windmills locally. And the sort of the heron. Yeah. We've got the heron, yeah.
04:21As I said, they've got the greenhouses in the middle as it was the nursery at that time. Yeah, yeah.
04:25Fantastic. Well, go on. So, let's go down the Tolkien route then because I might get in trouble if not.
04:31Is there, is there a something we should know about, is there something you always hear about
04:36Tolkien and you think that's just not right? Is there a frustrating fact? No, not really. No, it's all.
04:42Most stuff's out there. People have their own idea of what it's about. Yeah. The most frustrating
04:47one is people are always telling me my name's spelled wrong. Yeah. I said, no, it's not. It's I-E-N.
04:51No, it's not. It's like the author. Yes, I-E-N. Yeah, yeah. If anyone should know, you should know.
04:58You should know. Yeah. And we're joined by councillor Sally Garner. What do you think,
05:04Sally? They're looking great now, aren't they? Absolutely fab. Yeah. It's been a community event
05:09and we were here with a number of residents painting them. Tim obviously was our leader. Yeah. I've got
05:17the paintbrush out. Yeah, yeah. As we all did, which was just, which was just completely wonderful.
05:23Great stuff. And everyone's absolutely rallied round. Yeah. This is very much a celebration day
05:29today for Friends of the Weck, uh, Friends of Semestown Valley, and it's all in, uh, within
05:35the ward of Technolwittic, which we absolutely adore and want to preserve. A design that reflects
05:42both imagination. Yes. Yes. Yes. See, I've got one person in agreement there. And a deep sense of place.
05:52Yes. So we're here with Terry, Terry Holcroft. Terry, a little bird tells me you've, um, kind of become a,
05:59the unofficial custodian of the gates. You've looked after these over the years. That's correct.
06:03So, so you used to come walking along here most days? Most days. Every day of the week. Yeah. And
06:11what is it about these gates that are so special to you then? Well, when I came along the railway walk
06:17and I looked from there, um, I looked at the gates and I thought, they look Tolkienish. Yeah. Not
06:24knowing that, uh, Tim Tolkien had made them. Ah, you got a good eye then. Yeah. And, uh, I walked to
06:29them and they were black with verdigris about an eighth of an inch thick all over them. Yeah. And, um,
06:36and I thought if Sylvia was here now, she'd want to clean them. That's your wife, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah.
06:41And, uh, and so when I went home, I, uh, put all gear in my boot in my car. Yeah. And for the next
06:48three weeks, I cleaned a little bit each day. Wow. And I got them clean. Yeah. And folk wouldn't
06:53believe that the colour of the gates went, uh, once they were clean. Yeah. Because they were silver
06:58and gold at the time. Yeah. But you couldn't see the silver and gold. So how does it feel now you've,
07:05you know, seen them today in this pristine condition again? Feel good? Yes, I suppose euphoria
07:11would be a good word. Yeah. I feel great. Yeah. Very happy about it. And was there a worry that
07:18these gates, when the greenhouses went, was there a worry that these might end up going as well?
07:23They might be lost to the community? Well, when I started coming in here, several people were saying,
07:28don't be surprised if the characters don't take them down and sell them for scrap. Yeah, yeah. And that
07:34shocked me. Yeah. Well, I'm, I might be wrong. Viewers might, um, correct me, but I'm sure at one
07:40point it was in the pipeline that even the iron bridge could be sold for scrap. So nothing,
07:44nothing, you know, anything can go. Um, but yeah, I mean, thank you. Thank you on behalf of everyone
07:51for your efforts to keep these gates here with us in the community. Thank you.
07:55Very important to the country, not just to Wolverhampton. Very true, sir.
07:59My great honour to declare these gates.
08:09That's what you get when you get thinking cheers and not proper scissors.
08:14Try any of the chips.
08:15Do you know what you can do?
08:17Nearly ready?
08:21Open!
08:21Yay!
08:30Thank you very much.
08:31Topic of the gates!
Comments