INTERNATIONALLY renowned Stourbridge artist Luke Perry has created a sculpture to honour the volunteers who have toiled on the borough's canals.

Dudley Canal Trust is celebrating 60 years and the artist's creation will be delivered by canal boat to the trust's headquarters in town.

The sculpture is an upturned spade with words inscribed paying tribute to the volunteers who have toiled on the canal.

Mr Perry said: "We wanted to represent the workers and also to explain that it is about the opening up/clearing of the canal which was a very manual task. In addition to this it was important to have text on the piece, this needed to be prevalent but above all the work needed to be attractive, iconic and distinctly Black Country.

"We decided to create a monument which would be a stand alone spade, the symbol of digging and manual labour universally, but in addition to this we would have a pair of hands, work toughened hands in their position on the handle and shaft of the spade.

"The hands would represent the strength and effort that went into the re-opening and maintenance of the canal these 50 years."

Mr Perry has built several iconic sculptures in recent years including the Mary Macarthur Memorial in Cradley Heath and is currently working on a design for a huge installation on Halesowen's Grange island.

To ensure his work is totally Black Country built he enlisted the help of C Beech on Astells/Primrose Bridge in Netherton, Midtherm Laser Cutters on Peartree Lane and Adam and Michael De Vito of Cradley Heath to create the trust memorial.

He added: "All said the piece had been commissioned by the Dudley Canal Trust, designed and fabricated by a Black Country artist in Cradley Heath, made with steel from Netherton, cast in Cradley Heath, galvanised in Willenhall, laser cut in Netherton and even painted with paint from Allan's, and they say we don't make things in the Black Country anymore."

The Dudley Canal Trust are delighted with the finished article.

Alex Parker, Trust chairman, said: "It is easy to forget the majority of the work carried out over the past five decades has been organised and undertaken by volunteers from all walks of life, giving up their weekends and holidays to ensure the tunnel and its adjacent canals remained navigable."

"A former Trustee of DCT, Keith Tyler left a small sum of money in his will to be used as the Trust saw fit.

"It was felt this money should not just disappear in to the general coffers and as such Luke Perry was approached and then commissioned to design, construct and install an appropriate piece of art to commemorate the hundreds of volunteers who had taken on and beaten the ‘establishment’ by use of picks, shovels, wheelbarrows and their own blood, sweat and tears."