Only Connect, by Angela Godfrey

Carved in Watts Cliff stone from a quarry near Elton in Derbyshire, this sculpture was commissioned by the Friends of the Forster Country, and funded jointly by Stevenage Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council.  It was unveiled by Barbara Follett M.P. on 29th November 1997 at its site beside the footpath from St Nicholas’ churchyard to what is known as Forster Country.

Its title is taken from the subtitle of E.M.Forster’s novel Howards End. Angela Godfrey said, “I felt the need to amplify the two words ‘Only Connect’ with a fuller text; THE RAINBOW BRIDGE THAT SHOULD CONNECT THE PROSE IN US WITH THE PASSION. The image of the rainbow bridge gave rise to the arching form of the lettering connecting the two vertical halves – connecting and not quite connecting, joined and yet still retaining something of their own identity.  The different elements finally come together into a unified whole.”