Sole-searching over origins of Crimdon 'mystery' shoe art

52 minutes ago Tom Burgess reported that Jayne Gray, who regularly walks along Crimdon beach near Hartlepool, found a sculpture made of shoe soles nailed to a wooden pole in the sand dunes. She posted on social media asking if anyone knew its history. Locals call it the 'lost soles' art, but no one knows who created it or when it was placed there. The local parish council, Monk Hesleden, stated they are unaware of its origins and encouraged people to share any information about the sculpture. Jayne Gray, aged 61, mentioned that shoe soles frequently wash up along the beach due to past practices of dumping household waste into the sea, including items like shoe leather, sea glass, and remnants from an old colliery. She believes the sculpture was intentionally created, noting it was well-executed and took time to gather all the soles. Gray expressed curiosity about who made it, when, and how. One theory suggested by the parish council is that the sculpture was part of the 'Turning the Tide on the Durham Coast' programme, launched in 1997, aimed at reversing coastal damage caused by 100 years of waste from the coal industry.