The Bolt of Lightning will pay tribute to the area’s past
The Bolt of Lightning will pay tribute to the area’s past(Image: Planning Documents)
A huge sculpture taller than the Angel of the North is under construction close to the M62 near Warrington.
The Bolt of Lightning structure is being built as the centre point of the Mountpark roundabout at the Omega South business park on Skyline Drive in Burtonwood, beside junction eight of the M62.
The memorial will be 22.5m high, making it taller than the 20m Angel of the North, which is found next to the A1 in Gateshead, the ECHO reports.
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Honouring the former RAF Burtonwood airbase, which was used by the United States in WWII, the sculpture will depict a US Lockheed P-38F Lightning fighter aircraft on top of two curved beams. The structure will be illuminated with searchlights during the night.
A planning document states: “The proposed structure has been designed by renowned sculptor Peter Naylor. Peter has an extensive record of producing public art for war memorials throughout the UK. The Bolt of Lightning sculpture depicts a Lockheed P-38F Lightning fighter aircraft rising to the sky after a dive, leaving trails behind it.
“The trails formed by the engines are referred to as ‘swooshes’ and are supported by four independent columns on a large plinth, forming the base of the sculpture.”
The planning document continues: “Tasked with celebrating and emphasising the unique character of the P-38F airplane through illumination, a lighting scheme has been devised that adds drama and dynamism to the sculpture at night by animating its physical shape and adding a lifelike quality to the sculpture.
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“The proposed lighting scheme incorporates narrow beam spotlights at the top of sculpture’s the swooshes, on top of the tail of the plane. These generate a gradient, washing the surfaces of the two swooshes. The base is kept in darkness to create the impression of the plane floating above it.”
Planning approval was granted by Warrington Borough Council in April 2024 and work is underway to complete it. Road closures are scheduled for a number of dates in September to allow for work to take place.
RAF Burtonwood opened in 1940, during WWII, and was operated by the Royal Air Force until 1942, when it was transferred to the United States Army Air Forces.
It was used by the US’s Eighth, Ninth, Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Forces aircraft and its largest European airfield during the conflict. Close to 20,000 men were stationed at Burtonwood by the end of the war.
It was given back to the RAF in 1946 but remained an important site for the Americans during the Cold War. The site closed in 1991 and much of has since been demolished.
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