A SHIPWRECK sculpture could be created on the beach at Belhaven as part of an interactive art installation.

Drift is the brainchild of Edinburgh-based artist Symon Macintyre, alongside Nordland Visual Theature, Stamsund, Norway, and could appear on the beach in August.

Mr Macintyre told the Courier that details were still in the early stages, but added: “The idea of being able to overlook the sea is very important.

“I needed a beach area that has some sort of dune above the high-tide mark.

“It’s a very beautiful area and I want people to be meditative and to walk.

“Sometimes we don’t think enough. We spend so much time worried and busy, I want people to just reflect upon what it is to be alive and be in this amazing space.” The shipwreck will be based upon the experiences of Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Mouat, who was born in Levenwick, Shetland, in 1825 and died in 1918.

On January 30, 1886, 60-year-old Betty set sail for Lerwick to visit a doctor and sell her knitting as the only passenger on a boat.

Unfortunately, storms hit and although two crew members managed to reach dry land it was thought the boat – and Betty – was lost at sea.

However, on February 7, the Columbine was washed ashore on a beach at Lepsøy, near Ålesund, in Norway.

When she eventually returned to Shetland, Betty became something of a celebrity.

An appeal for public subscriptions to help her attracted a letter and £20 donation from Queen Victoria.

Mr Macintyre said that the inner strength of people had inspired his latest project.

He said: “I was interested in what people do when they are thrown into a situation where they are cast adrift.

“A lot of us go to pieces and panic but some people reach in and draw on this inner strength and grow strong through it.

“The sculpture is a wreck of the boat but inside will be a lot of different memories, some of Betty’s life. If you want to look at it you can do or you can put on headphones, which will be there, and there will be a song cycle about the eight days of her voyage.” The sculpture itself will be based towards the marshes, away from Belhaven.

However, no date is yet to be confirmed for when it will be created, with Mr Macintyre still to study the tide times and also the nesting terns.

A SHIPWRECK sculpture could be created on the beach at Belhaven as part of an interactive art installation.

Drift is the brainchild of Edinburgh-based artist Symon Macintyre, alongside Nordland Visual Theature, Stamsund, Norway, and could appear on the beach in August.

Mr Macintyre told the Courier that details were still in the early stages, but added: “The idea of being able to overlook the sea is very important.

“I needed a beach area that has some sort of dune above the high-tide mark.

“It’s a very beautiful area and I want people to be meditative and to walk.

“Sometimes we don’t think enough. We spend so much time worried and busy, I want people to just reflect upon what it is to be alive and be in this amazing space.” The shipwreck will be based upon the experiences of Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Mouat, who was born in Levenwick, Shetland, in 1825 and died in 1918.

On January 30, 1886, 60-year-old Betty set sail for Lerwick to visit a doctor and sell her knitting as the only passenger on a boat.

Unfortunately, storms hit and although two crew members managed to reach dry land it was thought the boat – and Betty – was lost at sea.

However, on February 7, the Columbine was washed ashore on a beach at Lepsøy, near Ålesund, in Norway.

When she eventually returned to Shetland, Betty became something of a celebrity.

An appeal for public subscriptions to help her attracted a letter and £20 donation from Queen Victoria.

Mr Macintyre said that the inner strength of people had inspired his latest project.

He said: “I was interested in what people do when they are thrown into a situation where they are cast adrift.

“A lot of us go to pieces and panic but some people reach in and draw on this inner strength and grow strong through it.

“The sculpture is a wreck of the boat but inside will be a lot of different memories, some of Betty’s life. If you want to look at it you can do or you can put on headphones, which will be there, and there will be a song cycle about the eight days of her voyage.” The sculpture itself will be based towards the marshes, away from Belhaven.

However, no date is yet to be confirmed for when it will be created, with Mr Macintyre still to study the tide times and also the nesting terns.