Burnley gets a taste of nostalgia with sweet exhibition at Towneley Hall (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Burnley gets a taste of nostalgia with sweet exhibition at Towneley Hall

1:44pm Friday 2nd December 2011 in Looking Back By Peter Magill, Chief reporter

A SCULPTURE harking back to the sweet shops of yesteryear has been unveiled in Burnley with a distinctly adult taste.

The figure, an early 20th century woman, clad in just her corset, can be seen leaning against a giant ball of ‘hundreds and thousands’.

It has gone on display at Towneley Hall.

The latest creation of Simon Grennan and Nicholas Sperandio draws inspiration from an early 20th century confectioner in Harle Syke.

Despite the sculpture being of a woman it has been named ‘Ginger Dan' after sweet-seller Dan Halstead, who owned a corner shop in Harle Syke between 1907 and the late 1940s.

Previously the artists have used Victorian green glass domes to reflect the busy nightlife of Hammerton Street.

And the borough’s coat of arms, complete with stuffed versions of the rampant lions alongside the famous De Lacy knot, armour and ornamental garden bees, was brought to life earlier.

Another exhibit - entitled ‘Victoria Apartments’ - encompassing a 19th century bronze statue and red duvet - highlighted the contrasts between old and new ideas of domestic luxury for industrial towns such as Burnley.

Town hall chiefs are hoping that ‘Ginger Dan’, and the accompanying works, will attract extra visitors to Towneley.

Coun Jeff Sumner, the council’s executive member for culture, said: “This piece is really symbolic of Burnley’s past, not least as it is named after a local man who will have been known to so many of Burnley’s older residents.

“It is a piece with many meanings and a real addition to the Towneley collection.”

The piece will be on show in the hall’s Burnley Room from today until January 13.

Sixth and seventh commissions in the series are currently being worked on.