Experts from Sunderland's National Glass Centre are restoring a stained-glass artwork from Monkseaton station on the Tyne and Wear Metro.
The 40-year-old ‘Beaches and Shipyards' stained glass was created by artist Mike Davis who incorporated it into each end of Monkseaton's glazed canopy in 1983. It features two stunning pieces of stained glass, ‘Beach', which is bold and colourful, was designed from a school competition won by Rosalind Hurst, while ‘Shipyards' is a more abstract interpretation of the River Tyne's heritage.
The stained glass has been transported from Monkseaton station to the Glass Centre where it will be restored to its former glory. To make it as good as new once again, stained glass expert Cate Watkinson and her team will slowly clean and repair the glass, and replace cracked panes. The restoration forms part of a £400,000 refurbishment scheme at Monkseaton station.
Nexus is refurbishing the glazing and steel structures that form the canopy's gable ends so they will withstand the elements for years to come. So that the glazing is resistant to vandalism and bad weather it will be toughened.
In the workshop, Cate will carefully remove cracked panes and lead frames, then re-cut new glass and solder the new lead frames into place before cementing them to make the glass stronger and watertight. Cate trained as a stained-glass artist under the expert supervision of Mike Davis whilst studying at the old Sunderland Polytechnic, and by taking on the Monkseaton station project she will be working to preserve one of her mentor's own commissions.
Cate said: “I'm pleased to say that we've started the work of carefully restoring the stained glass artwork from Monkseaton Metro station here at the National Glass Centre in Sunderland. This is a fantastic project to be involved in.
“The first task is to take rubbings of the stained-glass window so that we can tell where all of the pieces need to go.
“The broken bits of lead need to be removed, then we have to select the right colours from the sheets of glass that we have so can cut them to size and replace panes which are cracked. The rubbings that we have taken help us with this.
“We use the same lead that was used 40 years ago to hold the panes in place. These are then carefully soldered together.
“The last part of the process will involve cementing it in order to waterproof it and make the whole stained-glass window structurally sound, and less wobbly like it was before. Once all of this is done the window will look as good as new and can be put back into place at the Metro station.”
This work needs to be done quickly before the glass centre is closed down by the Sunderland council.