LOCAL photographer Angus Bathgate caught the installation of a giant mussel sculpture on camera as it was lowered onto Murdoch Green, Musselburgh.

The operation at the site off Edinburgh Road took place last Thursday.

Sculptor Michael Johnson’s work, called ‘Memory and Reflection’, is 12ft high and 6ft feet wide.

The stainless steel sculpture depicts aspects of Musselburgh’s history with images of agriculture, people, connections to the sea, the river and the Romans. The face of the sculpture is mirror polished and reflects whatever stands before it.

Mr Johnson, from Nottinghamshire, sees these two aspects of the shell, the memory and reflection, as metaphors for a work which interprets the history of the town and offers a reflection of how the town is viewed now.

A working group made up of community representatives selected the mussel shell for the commission. Mr Johnson undertook activities with local groups and schoolchildren to create designs for bronze inserts incorporated onto the main sculpture.

The fisherfolk stone sculpture at Murdoch Green will be moved to a seating area in front of the Shell petrol station, also off Edinburgh Road.

The mussel shell is one of two works of art funded by Tesco at a cost of £76,000 as part of the council’s Percent for Art policy, which was a condition of planning consent for the company’s present store.

The other is an archer planned for the banks of the River Esk, with its installation expected to be next week. A trail of arrows around the town is also planned and will link in with a Global Treasure App, a treasure trail organised by Musselburgh Area Partnership.