The Dream is located on the prominent summit of the former Sutton Manor Colliery in St.Helens, Merseyside. Midway between Liverpool and Manchester, Dream is close to Junction 7 of the M62 motorway.
When visiting the woodland site at Sutton Manor in St Helens, it's hard to imagine that until quite recently this 230 acre site, was a productive colliery with enormous slag heaps. As you walk across the green open space, which is now managed and cared for by the Forestry Commission, you wouldn't know the fact that there are huge quantities of unmined coal still lying underneath your feet. Also that so much took place beneath throughout most of the twentieth century which cost the lives of sixty men. The colliery dates back to 1906 and consisted of 2 shafts that became one of the largest pits in lancashire. It was one of the last to close in 1991. Then in February 2001, the Forestry Commission leased the site from St Helens Council and after consulting with the local community put project Wasteland to Woodland into operation and Sutton Manor as we know it today was born.
We parked at a playing fields car park just opposite the site, WA9 4BE, due to recommended parking at pub now been closed. This meant that we entered the site at the top left corner which I believe is the wheelchair access. Please be aware that the paths leading to Dream have reasonably steep gradients and may not be suitable for all visitors.
As you walk through the entrance there are information boards telling you the history of the site. All paths are nice compacted stone paths and The dream is well signed posted. We didn't notice the map until halfway round the walk and then realised the site is alot bigger than we thought and only ended up doing the circular route to the dream and back round to the car park.
As well as the Dream sculpture on the Sutton Manor site there is also a number of other art project on the trails. The summer of 2009 also saw the addition of a number of benches which graphically represent the history of the site. These have been courtesy of Sutton Manor Primary School's heritage project. Six flame-like monoliths, inscribed with poems dedicated to the memory of Sutton Manor miners, also grow from the ground and lead up to Dream.The Heritage Trail stretches for more than half a mile around Sutton Manor and each of the cast steel structures, which have been dubbed Green Flames, is about six feet tall. The first one you come across reads "We make our own pathways, they disappear into serenity and sunlight. For beneath this world lies another filled with dreams and scattered memories, the footsteps of our fathers."
The top of the Manor Woodland at the apex of the former colliery spoil heap, the Dream sculpture is situated, it is over 200 feet above sea level. From here visitors can enjoy views across to the Pennines, Clwydian hills and even Snowdonia. To the north is Billinge Beacon with Rivington Pike and Winter Hill further away. Daresbury Tower, Halton Castle, Delamere and the Widnes-Runcorn Bridge are visible to the south. This is the steepest part of the walk and as you walk up you get your first glismp of the structure that is the dream!
"Dream" is a 20 metre high sculpture located on the former site of Sutton Manor Colliery in St Helens, designed by world-renowned and award-winning artist, Jaume Plensa. The sculpture takes form of a young girl's head. Her eyes are closed in a dream-like state. The facial contours and reflectivity changes regularly due to changing weather and light conditions. Dream was commissioned by both ex-miners and St Helens' Council with the aim of reflecting the aspirations of the community. It was decided a mining monument was far from the wishes of the community and instead, a forward-looking piece that would inspire generations. You can get more information on the Dream here.
In the artist own words he says "Despite her wonderful vantage point and view, the girls eyes are closed, looking inwards. This is in part my homage to the miner and their dream of light when underground".
As we continued on our circular route we came across a bench with a view that if you turned south westerly is dominated by the Fiddlers ferry power station. I have read on a good day Old trafford, the reebok and even the trafford center can be spotted from here. We saw the power station but didn't identify anything else other than the m62.
There was plenty of trails going off in every direction and lots of wild flowers found along the way. All in all this walk was just over 2km and only took 45 minutes and wasn't too taxing. Would recommend to anyone.
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