Billy & Kes Statue – Replica

Description

This statue was created to celebrate the work of Barry Hines. It is based on the novel ‘A Kestrel for a Knave’ published in 1968 and the subsequent film ‘Kes’ directed by Ken Loach and released in 1969.

The artwork is inspired by Billy’s passion for flying Kes (Billy’s name for the bird) it represents the moment of freedom for both of them when Billy swings his lure and Kes soars and swoops, a perfect metaphor for freedom and refuge from a life of neglect and abuse . These moments are described as being in a ‘pocket of silence’, the coloured circle represents being in their own world where no one can hurt them.

Hines was the quintessential working-class writer from Barnsley. He was a man who wrote from the margins, and unflinchingly chronicled the social injustices he witnessed: from the failure of the education system and lack of opportunity found in A Kestrel for a Knave and the examination of land ownership and alienated labour in The Gamekeeper, to the devastating effect that Thatcherism had on Sheffield in Looks and Smiles and the increasingly toxic climate of nuclear threat during the 1980s in Threads.

The actual sculpture is installed in a small park in Hoyland Common, Barnsley. Across the road from where Barry Hines used to live, you can see a blue plaque on the house on Hoyland Road.