The sun had come out in the late afternoon as I wandered along the promenade at New Brighton on the Wirral. As you walk towards Wallasey Town Hall you see a sight which is quite unexpected.
The Black Pearl Pirate Ship is a community art installation situated on the beach near the Tower Grounds in New Brighton. It is based on a three masted pirate man-of-war ship. It has a good back drop across the River Mersey, looking up river are the giant cranes of Liverpool’s deep-water port and further down the river are the famous Three Graces of the Liver Building, Port of Liverpool Building and the Cunard Building.
It is constructed from salvaged materials including ships ropes and driftwood found on the beach and it is mainly used as a children’s play structure.
The Black Pearl is named after the ship in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ films. It has a ‘sister’ ship the Grace Darling, which was built on the rocks by the new Hoylake Lifeboat station on the coast further round the Wirral Peninsula in Summer 2013.
It was originally built in 2013 by local artists Frank Lund and Major Mace. The two community artists received a Wirral Award from the Mayor of Wirral for creating the two pirate ship artworks in 2015. The Wirral Award confers civic recognition on people who live in Wirral or organisations based in the borough who have made an outstanding achievement.
The Black Pearl has now become a permanent landmark on the seafront attracting thousands of visitors a year.
There are many sculptures and carvings to be found on and around the ship. Some bits disappear, and other pieces are added. The ship and surrounding sands are cleaned every day to ensure it is fit for children to play on it.
In 2013 it was set alight by vandals in May and battered by high winds and storms in December which saw it washed away out to sea on one of the highest tides for some 30 years. The ship was re-constructed on both occasions through the great efforts from the local community and since then it has been continuously maintained and reconstructed by its creators and local volunteers.
Let’s hope it the Black Pearl continues to be berthed here for some time to come!
briansimpsons 