Map of Singers artefacts in the town centre
The glass blocks in the curved back wall of Loop de Loop hold hidden treasures! They record some of the key town businesses of yesteryear, including Singers, Butler & Tanner, Cooper Bussman & Notts Industries, with embedded artifacts from the old factories, prior to closure or moving out of town. See the background report for details of its design & construction. More about camels, kilns & crucibles here.
The first Showcase, next to the Cafe Loop de Loop, explains the significance of the camel, with slides of the sculptures and a map showing the Singers Links project which has items placed throughout the town centre.
Admiring the camel
NEW VIDEOS of the wall in action, the public space in front and close-ups of the glass blocks alight – HERE
The stone wall, built in 2000, is in need of some repairs, mainly cleaning, repointing & replacement glass blocks. The glass block lighting is powered by a projector with side-emitting LED’s on a timer in the service room of the toilet block. Since erection the artwork has been subject to vandalism, weather deterioration and lack of basic maintenance. It is proposed that the glass blocks are restored by the original artist, Helga Watkins-Baker & that the projector is maintained by the project.
See all 39 glass blocks and their contents in this gallery. See The Glass Hub here.
Some of the glass blocks, which encapsulate moments from the past
The Singers Links glass blocks at night
3 photos of Block 17 showing the colour change lighting
Block 17 unlit – encapsulated copper wire from fuses and fuse caps from Bussmann Cooper
Block 26 – incorporated offcuts from metal stamping (fuses), Bussman Cooper. You can see the very poor condition of the surrounding stonework and pointing. To see how this one looks at night with the fibre-optic lighting, see the video below
The Singers Links glass blocks in action
Loop de Loop 