So, this might not be the most current news, but I have only just spotted him. The figure in white. The man in the hat.
Have you been following the hidden figure project in Salisbury? The idea originated from Salisbury resident Mrs Hawtrey, who enjoyed watching tourists taking photos of a statue of Antony Durman’s daughter, Alethea, that can still be seen in a garden, off Fisherton Street.
She wondered whether such an idea could be expanded to see other figures pop up around the city.
Led by Anthony, and supported by Safer and Supportive Salisbury, the idea grew into a community-led project that received funding from Wiltshire Council, as well as private support.
The Hidden Figures project will eventually see nine people with local connections be represented across the city in hidden or out of the way places, forming a trail.
The first figure produced was of local archaeologist, Phil Harding, who many visitors will recognise from his appearances on Time Team. His statue was completed in 2021 and involved an assortment of people and organisations, including Phil’s employers, Wessex Archaeology, as well John Hanson School in Andover,
Salisbury’s Men’s Shed, which created the statue’s stand, a student at Bishop Wordsworth’s school and many others. To facilitate the project, a 3D printer was bought.
The first statue was first placed in Salisbury Museum, which is rather fitting for an archaeologist, but perhaps too obvious for a ‘hidden’ figures project, and the statue now resides in an empty shop in the city centre.
Easy to miss if you aren’t looking, but easily recognisable once you spot it. So convincing is the statue that you’d be forgiven for thinking it wasn’t the man himself posing as a ‘living statue’ street entertainer.
Last year, two more figures were announced: Tracy Daszkiewicz – the public health officer from Wiltshire Council who led the city’s response to the Novichok poisonings; and Dolly Burnett, a carer and community volunteer who was chosen to carry the Olympic flame into Hudson’s Field in 2012.
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