We step out in West Street, Gateshead - an area that's undergone much change since our earlier photograph was captured 35 years ago.
At the centre of our two images, captured and kindly shared by amateur photographer Trevor Ermel, is the distinctive sculpture Sports Day . As the first work in Gateshead's new public art programme in the mid 1980s, it was intended as a focal point for an extensive scheme of environmental improvements in the town centre.
The four-metre high sculpture of reinforced, painted concrete was built on site by Mike Winstone, Gateshead's sculptor in residence in 1986. As Gateshead Council points out: "Although alluding to Gateshead's renown in sports and the International Stadium, the sculpture avoids clichéd representations of athletic prowess, tensed muscles and 'action' poses."
