A West Sussex Action Group Committed to Protecting a Valued Local Asset
Project to restore Richard Farrington’s wonderfull Archway Sculpture
On Saturday the 15th March 2025, many of those involved in getting the Gateway Arch reinstated were able to join the Friends of Centurion Way to celebrate the successful installation that took place on Thursday the 13th. Other images showing the FoCW archway installation celebration are available in the gallery below.
The Arch is now restored near to Bishop Luffa School with an exotic new livery emphasising the sculptures! The team from Peter Clutterbuck Blacksmiths and Balfour Beatty started at just after 8 o’clock today, March 13th 2025, and erected the refurbished sculpture and structure with minimal disruption. Tomorrow should see the final concrete and soil…
Last week brought panic and a flurry of activity. Indeed, concerns from WSCC, lamp-post companies and also with issues of excessive cutting of nearby tree roots, caused doubts that the project could proceed at all. Julia Smith and Carley Sitwell have now skilfully negotiated an alternative site, about 50 meters further North along the path,…
WSCC and the lamp-post companies have decided the archway can no longer be reinstated in its original position. The concern seems to be about space needed to maintain the lamps (presumably changing the bulbs) and potential damage to the lighting cables when installing the new footings. In addition, excavations around the remaining “archway boot” on…
Work has started today on the footings for the renovated Centurion Way arch at the railway bridge with our WSCC appointed contractors. It has taken five years of work and fundraising to get to this point. Super exciting! The concrete footings will take three weeks to set and so we are on track to get…
Centurion Way is now the permanent home of a scale model of the Solar System For those that remember, back in 2021 there was a temporary scale model of the solar system along Centurion Way…well it’s back, and this time permanently! Starting with The Sun, just under the bridge at Brandy Hole copse and finishing…
Ian Swann and I paid a visit to Peter’s forge/workshop last week with Richard Farrington, the original arch sculptor. It was such an amazing feeling walking down a narrow alleyway behind Osborne Road in Southsea and entering a tiny courtyard full of old bits of metal of many sizes, to find the two key people…
After Festive Meals and Seasonal Celebrations, Join the Friends of Centurion Way for a New Year’s Winter Walk on the Path On the 1st January 2025, the Friends of Centurion Way hope you can join us for an informal walk From Chichester to the Amphitheatre and Railwaymen Gang Sculptures. We will meet at the railway…
Update Theo did a great job playing the backing to the Christmas Carols on the electric piano despite the inclement wind and rain. Friends of Centurion Way raised their voices in song as the rain did its best to dissolve the song sheets. Carley kept everyone’s spirits high by supplying mulled wine and mince pies.…
Dear Friends of Centurion Way Supporters You kindly gave us your email and online support some years ago when we were fighting to save the path from diversion by the developers of Whitehouse Farm. Thanks to you and a public campaign, we saved the original route of the path! Since then, the community has stepped…