In 1951 the site of a demolished building became the Festival Garden, as part of the Festival of Britain. The aim was to raise the nation’s spirits as it rebuilt after the war. Half a century later it seemed the ideal site to mark the Millennium. The garden was redesigned and a statue created by John Willatts. To symbolise the woollen industry that supported the town for centuries, it depicts Clotho, who in Greek myth spins the thread of life.