A special artwork has been brought to life on Beadnell Beach near Seahouses in Northumberland to raise awareness of this year’s National Fish & Chip Day, which has been moved to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings on Thursday 6th June.
The sand artwork featuring the event’s logo and the date was created by renowned artist Claire Eason from Soul2Sand and took six hours to complete. It was the brainchild of the day’s joint headline sponsor The Q Partnership, which is made up of Friars Pride, Henry Colbeck and V A Whitley.
Georgina Colbeck from Henry Colbeck said: “As a national team of family businesses supplying the fish and chip industry we’ve always sponsored National Fish & Chip Day. However, this year we believe we found a resonant way to bring the event to life by commissioning Clare, highlighting the new Thursday date and the D-Day landings. The Q Partnership team found it poignant as we worked on the beach, thinking of those who 80 years ago found themselves on Normandy beaches and of those who risked their lives in the fishing industry feeding the nation. Winston Churchill famously said: ‘We shall fight on the beaches’ and we are grateful that we have been able to commemorate this special year on the beach.”
Claire Eason said: “Fish and chips are part of British identity and their historic link with WW2 made this project especially moving as we mark the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day landings. Recreating the celebratory design on the beach was really enjoyable as the paper plan became a 90’ x 90’ sand picture. Remembering those that had sacrificed their lives for our freedom was very much part of the process. A grid was placed over the paper design and a huge corresponding grid was created on the sand, which allowed the plan to be scaled up. We used rakes as pencils, drawing in the outline then raking the damp sand to give a darker colour to build the image. The design involved fine detail and precision raking which the enthusiastic team took in their stride. It was so special to be involved in this very British celebration.”
