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WAKEFIELD: David Pickersgill reports of what is driving the Merrie City forward. Pictures by Jonathan Gawthorpe.

IT is fair to say it has taken the remarkable initial success of The Hepworth – 100,000 visitors within its first five weeks – to establish Wakefield’s place on the national cultural map.

However, long before David Chipperfield’s riverside gallery brought the metropolitan critics flocking north from King’s Cross, the city was a thriving artistic hub, albeit much of it was operating below the radar in local, let alone regional or national, terms.

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Although the one-time pervasive image of the “Merrie City’”as a merely a magnet for thrill-seekers bent on drinking their way from one end to the other of the infamous Westgate Run has yet to be entirely shaken off, nevertheless art rather than alcohol is on the agenda of a growing proportion of visitors.

The opening of The Hepworth, however, did not take place in a vacuum, for the years prior to its arrival had seen a growing realisation that arts might play an important role in the regeneration of a city which was laid low by the loss of its industrial underpinnings during the 1980s.

Wakefield Council has taken an increasingly active role in driving forward the city’s rebirth as a cultural powerhouse, notably in backing The Hepworth in the face of criticism of its spending priorities but, to coin an artistic metaphor, it is the initiative of numerous smaller organisations that has provided the materials with which the local authority has been able to paint the bigger picture.

An distinctive example of this grassroots get-up-and-go is the Wakefield Artwalk, a monthly Wednesday evening open-house incorporating studios, exhibition spaces, shops and cafes, where visual and performance art is presented to visitors who stroll, in no particular order, from one place to another.

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It is based upon a long-running similar event in Seattle but it was another US city – Hollywood – which was the inspiration behind the most recent cultural initiative: the Wakefield Walk of Fame.

Inaugurated to coincide with the opening of The Hepworth, the first star-shaped plaques went on view in early July on a route leading from the city centre Bull Ring down to the rejuvenated waterfront.

Indie rock band The Cribs, playwright John Godber, sculptors Barbara Hepworth and Castleford-born Henry Moore, pioneer naturalist Charles Waterton, rugby league legend David Topliss and inventor John Harrison are the first to be honoured following public nominations, with more to follow in the coming years.

Wakefield Civic Society and Stars Board president, Kevin Trickett, said: “We originally proposed to launch the scheme with just three winners, however after some deliberation, seven winners were chosen, due to the quality of the nominations. We also decided to ‘roll forward’ other nominees to the next round of awards.”

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Wakefield Cathedral is getting in on the act, too. Recent months have seen it staging rock and pop gigs alongside the more usual roster of classical concerts and choral productions, as the diocesan authorities seek to establish it as a focal point of the city’s cultural as well as spiritual life.

The key to achieving this ambition is Project 2013, a scheme to transform the cathedral itself and ancillary buildings into more flexible performance and exhibition spaces, which last month received a boost with the awarding of a £1.5m Heritage Lottery Fund grant toward the £5m total cost.

The Dean of Wakefield, Jonathan Greener, said: “We are looking forward to being able to reshape and revitalise this beautiful building, not just for worship, but for use by the whole community. We know it will put Wakefield on the map as a vital and vibrant cathedral city.”

A major manifestation of the city’s civic artistic consciousness came to fruition last year when the first Wakefield Summer of Culture was declared.

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Organised by the Wakefield Cultural Partnership, an umbrella grouping of the council, arts organisations and voluntary groups, it brought together an eclectic range of more than 250 events under a single banner with the aim of attracting visitors and, just as importantly, emphasising to local people the range of arts-based attractions in their backyard.

It encompassed professional and community theatrical productions, art exhibitions, musical events, right down to village galas, and culminated in an evening of celebration in the Navigation Warehouse on the waterfront, with a keynote address by John Godber.

Cultural Partnership chairman Murray Edwards – also the driving force behind the city’s Theatre Royal – said at the the time: “What John had to say was very pertinent. He said he didn’t like it when people say that culture is some thing that people do – it is who you are and where you come from, and that is what the Summer of Culture celebrated.”

HOW WAKEFIELD’S SIGNIFICANCE GREW

The 9th century Vikings brought local government to Wakefield, making it part of the Wapentake of Agbrigg with a court which met near Heath Common. The settlement came together around three “gata” – the Norse for big street. These are known today as Westgate, Northgate and Kirkgate.

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Kirkgate railway station opened in 1840 and Westgate station in 1867.

The new Town Hall in Wood Street for the Wakefield Corporation was opened in 1880.

The now restored Opera House opened in 1895, designed by renowned architect Frank Matcham who specialised in music halls and theatres.

The County Hall for the West Riding County Council was opened by the Marquess of Ripon in 1898.