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Video: Moving the Totem
by Tom Rodgers
At some unearthly time in the morning on a wet Monday, Salford's two-and-a-half tonne Totem Pole started the next phase of its journey. The 36 foot cedar monument was winched out from the Lowry Outlet Mall on Salford Quays, where it has lain for three months, to be driven to Wardley industrial estate in Swinton. The Totem Pole needs to be cleaned before it can be rejuvenated by Kevin Cranmer, the Canadian Indian (and Manchester United-supporting) master restorer. Having been re-painted over many years, the colours on the faces of the animals represented on the Totem Pole now must be re-done, so that they accurately resemble the greens and reds of the original Kwakwaka'wakw (Native Canadian Indian) tribe. And you can't just take a soapy cloth to this 40-year old wooden pillar. Any normal kind of cleaning risks damaging the soft wood, which has cracked and split over time, and could even remove the original carving detail which was hand-sculpted in British Columbia by Kevin's uncle, Doug Cranmer. This is a delicate process, which requires the finest technlogy in the business. Luckily - as has magically happened so many times with this iconic piece of Salford heritage, there just so happens to be a company in Salford called Burnaby who have developed an "air-abrasion" removal technique, which blasts a fine jet of air at the pole to remove the paint without damaging the wood is so fine it can remove the print from newspaper without damaging the paper. You'll see this fascinating process in action in the next video. Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. Becoming a member of SalfordOnline only takes a minute, just hit the red Join Us button at the top right hand side of the page to create your Personal account. Got a news story? Need help with publicity for an event in Salford? Send it to newsdesk@salfordonline.com or call the SalfordOnline newsdesk on 0161 789 5377. |
