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Caerphilly 2035 is a much-heralded council vision of how Caerphilly town could look over the next ten-plus years. Regeneration projects include a new market, a new railway station, and a new leisure centre, as well as ambitions to transform the look and feel of the town.

Almost 30 years ago, similar things were happening.

The year was 1995. Castle Court shopping centre had been built at the bottom of town, and it was also the year two ‘squares’ at the top of town were rejuvenated with public art depicting jackdaws and geese.

Sculptor Julie Westerman designed and created the geese and jackdaws found on Windsor Street and Stockland Street respectively.

Julie was chosen by landscape architects Camlin Lonsdale to work on the project, which had also involved Mid Glamorgan County Council and Rhymney District Council – the forerunners of Caerphilly County Borough Council.

Now a recently-retired university fine arts lecturer, Caerphilly Observer caught up with Julie to speak with her the story behind those bronze sculptures and what they mean to her and the town.

She explained the idea for the sculptures came from a desire to create something for the people of Caerphilly.

Originally from Leicester, Julie spent time studying in London and Birmingham before becoming a fellow at Cardiff University, where she spent five years.

In that time, she lived in Cardiff and Monmouth, and said Wales is still “very close to my heart”.

She later moved up to Sheffield, where she still lives – and where the sculptures were made.

It was while living in Sheffield that Julie was brought back to south Wales to work on the project, which she said was about “finding a narrative for the relationship between the castle and the town and creating a new narrative for the people of Caerphilly”.

Before the squares were built, they were just roads leading from the streets on to Cardiff Road.

The squares were made to “create breathing space,” Julie explained. “A place to stand and have a chat and hang out.

“We needed to give the squares an identity,” she said – and this is where the idea for the sculptures came from.

“It was very much an evolution. I would go away and do loads of drawings, discuss them and then go away and draw more.

“Birds came up in all the research we did.

“The people of Caerphilly used to be called ‘jackdaws’, which probably came from the jackdaws in the castle ruins. Older people at the time knew of the myth, but it was on the cusp of being lost.”

The jackdaws are represented in the sculpture on the square on Stockland Street, with the wall behind including sculpted scissors, a pocket watch and a heart, in ode to jackdaws’ reputation for stealing shiny objects.

The sculptures were built after some lengthy research into Caerphilly, which included observing people in the town.

“Caerphilly had lost its pride in itself at the time. People didn’t have the confidence to shout about their town,” Julie said.

“It was having a rough time and felt slightly depressed. I felt like I needed to give people something to be proud of and to welcome people in and draw tourists. Caerphilly deserved that.”

The four-metre tall copper wind vane, which towers above Windsor Street with a goose on the top of it, was designed with the intention of encouraging people to look up – both physically and metaphorically.

Julie continued: “The sculptures took a long time. I made them all at the same time and it took at least a year.

“I took so many photos of geese to try and perfect it. I wanted the sculptures to feel domestic, and not full of ego like Nelson’s Column or something like that.

“They were going to be placed at the end of someone’s street. I wanted them to be lovely and appropriate for all the people who lived there – an awful lot of public art doesn’t do that.”

Before the sculptures were put up, public meetings were held with residents to discuss the proposals – and they were all “rammed”.

“Everyone was very interested. We spoke of our ideas and at the end someone piped up and said they didn’t like birds,” Julie joked, but admitted it did worry her at the time.

“We did exhibitions in the town and a lot of work was done to make sure people felt part of it.”

After the statues were fitted, Julie said she felt “so pleased” to see them in place.

“I’m very fond of them because of their complexity and how they have lasted. I wanted residents to love these geese.”

While Julie doesn’t get much opportunity to come down and visit her work, she said: “I love it when you see people chatting next to the statues – it proves the point.

“I’m delighted they’re still here, it’s a testament to all the work that was put into getting it right.

“After all the ideas, the research and the endless fine-tuning, to actually see it was thrilling.”