Bronze Sculpture of an Artic Tern

The sculpture, by wildlife artist Geoffrey Dashwood, had been on temporary loan at the Scottish Seabird Centre from the Pangolin studio in Gloucester. It very quickly became associated with the centre and North Berwick, and appeared in many publications and postcards. A funding appeal was launched in 2003 to secure the future of the 7ft high sculpture but unfortunately the community campaign Save our Tern was unable to keep the piece following the end of the loan period.

East Lothian Council Leader, David Berry explained: “The Council has long had a policy that requires developers to provide funds for public artworks as a condition of planning consent. The Council's Arts Service works closely with the planners to offer developers advice about how the percent for art policy should be implemented. When Tesco advanced plans for a new store in North Berwick I was delighted when they agreed with the enthusiastic lobbying of Tom Brock and the Scottish Seabird Centre that their contribution would be used towards bringing the tern sculpture back to the town. Local residents and regular visitors to North Berwick and the Scottish Seabird Centre are looking forward to having the tern sculpture back on Anchor Green.”

Jennifer Duncan, Tesco Corporate Affairs Manager Scotland said: “Tesco is delighted to have been able help in bringing this fabulous piece of art work back to North Berwick. Through opening a new store in the town, we have been able to contribute to the local community in a number of ways. We are particularly pleased to have been asked to fund the tern sculpture as seabirds are of great importance both to the town's heritage and future. Since opening our store we have greatly enjoyed the welcome we have been given by local people. We hope that in the future we can continue to strengthen links with our neighbours in North Berwick and work with them on a range of exciting projects."