The Flame of Liberation is being brought to Kingston upon Hull from Wageningen in the Netherlands, arriving on the 8th of May; Hull will house this Flame of Liberation as a mother flame, which will then be distributed around the UK as daughter flames, promoting unity, peace and freedom between nations.
The original Torch of Liberation was lit by Field-Marshall Montgomery; in his speech he said:
“Let us be strong in the resolve to stand firmly for freedom and justice in an unsettled world.”
I was contacted by Alan Raw of Radio Leeds and Radio Humberside, who is arranging much of the celebrations due to take place in Princes Quay Shopping Centre on Friday 9th May. To cut a long story short, it transpired that a plinth of some sort was required to display the Protector Lamp housing the flame, and I had about a week and a half to source and carve a suitable log.
I got in touch with Pete Bowser Tree Services of Tickton, East Yorkshire, to see if he could help; Pete is a fantastic chap who has recently found some excellent logs for me for various projects and workshops, and he certainly didn’t disappoint on this occasion ~ not only did he generously donate a hefty beech trunk for the piece free of charge, he also sawed and milled it to shape and size for no fee. Pete deserves an enormous thank you for his time and effort in supporting the project, due to the timescale I would’ve really struggled without his assistance.
The beech stem before shaping………..and Pete milling the log to shape.
The final cut with the chainsaw.
Montgomery’s speech is to be carved on the front face; the idea was to have the front sloping back towards the Protector Lamp, so the eyes would flow from the flame to the speech and back.
Thanks to Quent and Jon for effortlessly transporting the log to my house too. Just got to carve it now!
More information about the history of the Freedom Flame, and the schedule for the Hull celebrations can be found on : http://www.montgomeryflame.co.uk/