{"id":801327,"date":"2026-10-13T14:44:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T14:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/801327\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T14:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T14:44:14","slug":"restored-prestatyn-sculptures-to-return-after-vandalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/801327\/","title":{"rendered":"Restored Prestatyn sculptures to return after vandalism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  A life-sized sculpture, one of two female figures which were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rhyljournal.co.uk\/news\/15796645.impressive-tree-carved-sculptures-representing-past-and-present-admire-the-fine-view-over-prestatyn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">installed in 2017 at the Hillside Gardens<\/a> shelter close to the road up to Gwaenysgor, was heavily damaged in August 2024.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The sculpture, which represents\u00a0a walker from the 1920s, was knocked off its platform and its arms were \u201cchopped off\u201d.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\" alt=\"The damage one of the sculptures sustained in 2024\"\/>The damage one of the sculptures sustained in 2024 (Image: NQ)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  More than two years later, and after careful restoration, the sculpture and its partner will return to Prestatyn at a public unveiling on October 29, sculptor Simon O&#8217;Rourke said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The restored sculpture is one of two at the site, with the 1920s sculpture marking the era the shelter was built in, while the modern-day rambler is intended to represent the Offa&#8217;s Dyke National Trail.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Both have been restored &#8220;to their former glory&#8221;.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\" alt=\"One of the two restored sculptures\"\/>One of the two restored sculptures (Image: Simon O&#8217;Rourke)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  In a statement on social media, Mr O&#8217;Rourke said: &#8220;After a lot of careful work in the workshop, the sculptures are repaired and ready to return home to Prestatyn.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Over the past few weeks, Paul and I have been busy restoring the damaged carvings, repairing broken sections, replacing lost details and bringing them back to their former glory.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\" alt=\"One of the two restored sculptures\"\/>One of the two restored sculptures (Image: Simon O&#8217;Rourke)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;It&#8217;s always disappointing to see artwork vandalised, but it&#8217;s incredibly rewarding to help preserve pieces that mean so much to the local community.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;The sculptures will be reinstalled on Thursday 29th October, with an unveiling at 2 pm at Hillside, Prestatyn LL19 9EN.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Everyone is welcome to come along and see them back where they belong. Paul and I will be there and would love to say hello.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A life-sized sculpture, one of two female figures which were installed in 2017 at the Hillside Gardens shelter&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-801327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}