It’s a jungle out there. Living in a secure property on a comfortable middle class estate in a quiet Derbyshire town, it’s easy to forget the dangers of gun and knife crime. But only if you throw your television, radio, mobile phone and laptop out into the street, and lock yourself away from modern Britain. The news media revels in crime stories, even in the festive season, so its no surprise that the recent murders of Elle Edwards (shot in a pub in Wallasey on Christmas Eve) and Cody Fisher (stabbed in a Birmingham nightclub on Boxing Day) got massive coverage.
The Manchester Anti-Violence Bee Monument – parked up for the day outside a local filling station and café
Don’t get me wrong, it could be much worse. The murder rate per 100,000 people in the US is more than four times that in the UK (2018, extrapolated from data quoted in the World Population Review). Maybe that reflects, in part, the fact that in this country there is no constitutional right to bear arms (of course, we have no written constitution at all, but that’s another story altogether!) Our laws surrounding the carrying of weapons are strict, and I for one am enormously grateful for that.
But the law isn’t much of a deterrent or an obstacle to those who don’t respect it in the first place. There’s no shortage of weapons to be had in this country, so long as you know where to look. We urgently need to get them off our streets. With this in mind, Greater Manchester Police have committed to an ongoing amnesty project. It seeks to encourage holders of such weapons to surrender them voluntarily.
Some of the weapons collected have been used to create an anti-violence monument for the city. The monument takes the form of a giant bee, and is made out of literally hundreds of knives and firearms surrendered during the “Forever Amnesty” project. The artwork visited a local town near us a few weeks ago, so Mrs P and I popped along to where it was parked up to take a look.
The artists behind the Bee Monument are from the British Ironworks Centre, where the stunning Knife Angel was also created. It’s hard not to find the Monument both enormously impressive and seriously alarming. On the one hand it is magically eye-catching, bristling with glinting knives and glowing with well-oiled firearms. But on the other hand, I would never have believed there were so many deadly weapons in Manchester…which I guess shows just how innocent I am! And I wonder how many more are still out there, primed and ready for use by people with malice in their minds?
Seriously alarming…or a symbol of hope?
The Bee Monument is a splendid sculpture which does a decent job in raising awareness about the scale of the problem. But maybe, also, it’s a symbol of hope, showing that – with commitment and creativity – objects so profoundly ugly as weapons of death can be re-cast into a thing of beauty.
Now I'm 64 
A really interesting post – and the bee is quite impressive.
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Thank you, glad you enjoyed.
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This monument definitely stops one in one’s track, and not in a good way. It’s a sad statement about one ugly side of humanity–another one. 😢
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Yes, it’s very provoking. Lots of people were gathered around the monument when we went to see it, obviously mulling over the message. Scary stuff, I think.
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Very scary.
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Very thought provoking. Thank you
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Thanks, Judy. Glad to know this struck a chord with you.
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Reminds me of the Knife Angel that toured around in 2021, I saw that in Blackburn. Was quite amazing and a little disturbing.
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The Knife Angel came to Derby too. A stunning piece of artwork, but also rather sinister. The Knife Angel and the Bee Monument were made by the same group of artists, so the stylistic similarities are probably to be expected.
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The bee is both impressive and sobering. I hope its message comes through loud and clear. As you noted, gun violence is a huge issue in this country, but one political party in particular has zero intention of doing anything about it, no matter how many children are slaughtered.
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Thankfully no political party here argues for (or would ever argue for) relaxation of gun control laws. I read / watch the news reports on US gun violence with dismay and disbelief…it’s so desperately sad, and so unnecessary.
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Horrible! And the sad thing is that the majority in this country do want some kind of gun control, but special interests rule the day.
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Those bees could pack quite a sting! Yes, a little joke but it is seriously thought-provoking, of grave concern, quite frightening even. Knife crime seems to be on the increase and we had a few reports of the same here over the past week – a time of increased consumption of alcohol and drugs and loss of sense and contol. I haven’t walked through the centre of our town in years and have no need nor desire to do so. I think I would be a little nervous there at certain times.
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I’m also much more cautious than I once was about where I go and when I go there. Partly because random violent crime does appear to be on the increase, but partly also because my aching body no longer allows me to make a swift getaway if trouble suddenly erupts!
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I think many men also have the notion that they will be able to take care of themselves should any troublemaker come on the scene but with passing years we realise that this is not the case and are then inclined to be more cautious and nervous.
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Sad, but true!
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That’s amazing and it certainly gets its message across. It’s really alarming to think that all those weapons were in circulation and that there are still lots more out there.
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Yes, very scary, and so alien from my comfortable, innocent perspective. It’s like there’s a parallel world out there that I know nothing about until reminded by initiatives like this one.
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It’s a world that I really don’t want to come across and makes me realise how much I rely on living in my own fairly predictable world!
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Beeutiful and scary at the same time!
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Bees are wonderful creatures, aren’t they. I’m intrigued to know (but will never find out!) why the artists chose to turn the weapons into a bee rather than some other critter. From where I’m sitting it’s not an obvious choice, but whatever the reason, the sculpture that emerged from the process was a triumph.
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A startling piece of sculpture to say the least! We have so many weapons floating around Cape Town, a herd of elephant sculptures could be constructed, never mind a giant bee. But scary stuff. I’m an old fuddy duddy, so I blame violent electronic games and gratuitous TV violence for the rise in violence. Scary stuff.
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I don’t really know what to blame, but I agree that it’s very scary.
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