‘come follow me’ is a 30m long text artwork in saint james square outside grimsby minster. the artwork is a democratic telling of the town history where official records, origin myths, local dialect, and personal memories all have equal weight. two races feature in the path which runs the length of the square: the historic choristers pancake race (which the artwork reinstated into local tradition) and the colloquial ‘fishdock races’ when fishermen’s wages would be collected by families. an alphabetical ships manifest forms half of the path collected from centuries of docks records from the earliest days of the town to the present day renewable energy activities. juxtaposition – intentional and happenstance – occur throughout the artwork suggesting double meanings and resonances.the text was developed through a combination of research and conversation with local residents. here ‘great day’ alludes to ‘great grimsby’, ‘st james the great’ and great days in the memories of local people. the lettering styles were collected on walks around the town by young people.a concrete poem using the repeated letters ‘in’ leads to tell the history of the minster leads up to the church doors.the path also functions as a guide to navigating the square labelling trees and historical locations both visible and hidden.
