Chesterfield pensioner brands artwork swap for war poetry at Vicar Lane centre “disgusting”
A pensioner has labelled the replacement of a war poetry display at Vicar Lane shopping centre with works of art depicting Chesterfield scenes as “disgusting”.
Robert Finlay, 77, noticed the display – dubbed “poetry walk” when it was installed in May 2018 – had been replaced last week. He described often stopping to look at the poems en-route to the markets after parking at the shopping centre carpark.
The memorial – made up of 11 different poems engraved onto the wall in the link walkway to the car park – was originally installed to be in place until January 2019, however it has remined at the shopping centre ever since.
Speaking about the poems, former decorator Robert said: "I always look at them and I thought what have they done, that is disgusting. It was really nice but now it looks awful. Our soldiers deserve to be on show for all of us.”
The display, including works by John McCrae and other famed war poets such as My Boy Jack by Rudyard Kipling, was erected to mark the centenary of the end of the Great War in commemorations across the town lead by Chesterfield Borough Council.
Speaking about the importance of remembering the WW1 fallen, father-of-two Robert said: “During a trip to France once we stopped at a cemetery and there were English graves all over and the ages were 18, 19...it was really, really sad.”
When the poems were installed in May 2018 Vicar Lane’s operations manager Shaun Brown said the centre was “honoured” to pay respect to the fallen. He added: “We hope that the exhibition will inspire Chesterfield and make our community proud.”
Since the installation the centre has been acquired by a property investment company Sheet Anchor Evolve – in July this year. Derbyshire Times has asked Evolve and Chesterfield Borough Council for a comment.