From aircraft engineer to craft maker: David Beasley on designing a new sculpture for remembrance

<p dir="ltr">“There was an email calling for students interested in participating in the Remembrance Day project, and I thought, being ex-military, I’d like to get involved,” says David. “I attended the presentation, and I liked the idea of being part of the project.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Before university, David served in the Royal Air Force. “I joined the Royal Air Force when I left school in the 80s and left in 1998,” he explains. “I joined as an aircraft airframe mechanic performing basic maintenance tasks on several types of aircraft.” His early career took him from North Devon to West Germany to a front-line squadron, then back to the UK for technician training.</p> <p dir="ltr">“After the training course, I was sent to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire… and from there to Northern Ireland for a couple of years, which was brilliant and I was working on helicopters for the first time.” A volunteer detachment then took him to Hong Kong for two years “until two weeks before the handover to the Chinese,” before returning to Brize Norton and then leaving the RAF in 1998. After his military career, David continued working in the aircraft industry, including a couple of years at Plymouth airport.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">“My design grew from a poetry workshop with Never Such Innocence and Military Kids Clubs. We went along to meet the kids and have a chat to get inspiration. It was a really good day,” David says. He heard moving stories about separation and loss from the teachers and the pupils they support.<br /><br />Drawing on his own background, he adds: “I was a military child also. My dad was a Royal Marine, as was my granddad, and my brother fought in the Falklands conflict with 45 Commando Royal Marines. I remember at that time, my mother and I would sit by the TV every evening waiting for the news and how nervous I felt, scared for my brother. It was a horrible time. These kids are going through that all the time… I know how they’re feeling.”</p> <p dir="ltr">A simple, powerful gesture became central. “One of the young girls talked about how she just wanted to hug her dad when he was away. That got me thinking that the hug is a big thing,” David says. “I looked at the idea more closely. It’s the hug goodbye when they go away and the hug they get when they come back. I came up with the adult and child figure almost hugging, designing the two figures so one would disappear when the other was in view. That’s how it evolved. I made a stack of maquette models out of cardboard to see how things would work.”<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">“We made videos demonstrating our designs that were sent to the schools for the kids’ clubs to look at with voting sheets,” says David. “They picked mine, which I was really chuffed about.”</p> <p dir="ltr">With the project moving forward over the summer break, David and Ant kept momentum. “Because Ant and I were both ex-military, we decided we’d push this forward ourselves and make sure that we were in constant contact with Babcock,” he says. “Ant is a genius when it comes to project management. He’s taken the lead and I’m not sure we’d have been ready in time for Remembrance 2025 without him."<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">David is quick to credit all the partners involved. “From showing the maquettes and seeing Babcock’s 3D rendering, I know that Councillor Pauline Murphy from Plymouth City Council is really happy with it,” he says. “Steve Ball from Babcock is 100% behind it. Babcock has been absolutely brilliant. Alan Charlick, who did the 3D rendering for Babcock, is also 100% on it. You only have to ask him something, and 10 minutes later, he’s done it. They’ve all been fantastic.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The fabricators, too, made a strong impression: “We spoke to the guys who are actually going to fabricate it, Ronnie and his team, and they’re really engaged too, thinking through solutions while we sat there at a meeting. Everybody who’s been on board is really engaged. I’ve really enjoyed working on this collaboration and exploring the possibilities of working with local industry. It’s something I hope to continue with in the future.”<br /></p>

<p>“What matters most for me is the audience that chose the design in the first place,” David said. “It’s for the kids, and I hope they can look at the sculpture and connect with it. They, as well as all of the people and organisations involved with this project, are part of it.” The sculpture is also part of the Plymouth story. It will be a permanent part of the landscape, a reflection of it and the people of Plymouth.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Arts University Plymouth students created design concepts for <em>Ebb and Flow</em>, which were shared with local military linked schools: Hooe, Eggbuckland Vale, Leigham, St George’s and Sherford Vale. The schools chose the winning design, created by BA (Hons) Craft &amp; Material Practices student David Beasley, a former Royal Air Force engineer, and developed collaboratively with <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-fine-art">BA (Hons) Fine Art</a> student and former Royal Marines Major Ant Hill MBE. They were supported by fellow students Lucy Claire Walker, Dorron Britz and Claire Jones.</p> <p dir="ltr">The sculpture depicts a parent and child leaning towards each other. As viewers move around it, one figure fades as the other appears, reflecting the constant cycle of presence and absence. The child raises its arms in the semaphore signal for ‘L’, standing for love, loss and longing – a symbol drawn from the reflections of children involved in the workshops.<br /></p>