Brighton sculptor honours biscuit heroes on International Women's Day

The ‘Cracker Packers’ statue will be unveiled in Carlisle, Cumbria on International Women’s Day, and depicts two McVitie’s factory workers.

Later this year, sculptor Hazel Reeves will see her Emmeline Pankhurst statue for St Peter’s Square, Manchester unveiled on December 14, to mark 100 years since women first voted in a UK general election.

Hazel is also renowned for her seven-foot bronze sculpture of Sir Nigel Gresley in King’s Cross Station.

The Cracker Packer bronze statue depicts two women factory workers from Carr’s Table Water Biscuits, one from past times and one from the modern day dressed in their respective factory uniforms.

Hazel worked with current and former Cracker Packers to develop the statue.

She said: "The statue conveys the humour, warmth and camaraderie of the Cracker Packers, past and present. This was only made possible by the generosity of the Carr’s workers who shared their vibrant stories with me. This statue formally marks the importance of these women workers to the factory, to Carlisle and to each other.”

The two Cracker Packers, the name given to workers at the (then-named) Carr’s biscuit factory, will be standing on a bronze Carr’s Table Water biscuit, with the distinctive Carr’s signature logo embossed into it.

The total height of the statue and its base, with granite plinth, is just over one and a half metres.

To find out more about Hazel Reeves’ work, visit: www.hazelreeves.com