'Venus & Cupid'

This sculpture created by the artist Shane A. Johnstone was first erected in 2005. Though it was initially met with disdain by locals, the statue has now become a beloved part of the Morecambe Promenade. It was erected to commemorate the 24 cockle pickers who lost their lives in a terrible incident in 2004.

The piece is known as “Venus & Cupid”—and subtitled “Love, The Most Beautiful Of Absolute Disasters.” Facing out to sea over Morecambe Bay, it is an interesting sculpture that depicts a seated woman waving a child in the air. She is holding the hands of the child, whose body extends horizontally while being swung around. What makes it further interesting is the detailed multicolored mosaic that covers the sculpture’s surface.

Initially, it was intended for St. George’s Quay in Lancaster, to go alongside the river. It sits on Scalestone Point which is a site of a former gun emplacement.

In 2011 Johnstone, said he would destroy the sculpture as the local council had not been looking after it and paying for the sculpture’s insurance. A trust was created with the sole purpose to care for the sculpture, along with other public art in Morecambe.