I, and no doubt countless others, have walked past the sculpture on the corner of Deansgate and Blackburn Street many times without giving it more than a glance.

I was shocked, therefore, to read in the Bolton Evening News that this "rare" cast metal figuration is the work of one of Britain's greatest sculptors, Dame Barbara Hepworth (who!) and worth a staggering £500,000.

But what's so great about this simple casting, that could, I feel sure, have been produced in any of the heavy moulding shops we once had here in Bolton; in factories such as Hick Hargreaves or Dobson and Barlows?

'Fettlers' would have chipped off the rough edges, and apprentices would have filed and scraped the surfaces to a brilliant finish. Hardly a work of art, more a laborious task.

My naive idea of a sculptor is someone who works with clay or other materials, or chisels away at a piece of stone to create figures, busts and statues, likenesses and effigies, that only they, with their huge talent, can create.

In the true definition of the word, this simplistic piece of pretend art could, I suppose, be classed as a sculpture -- a figure in relief or solid . But is it really great? Is it a one off that could never be replaced? Is it 'eck!

I suggest that on its return from Yorkshire, the perfect place to put it would be under the auctioneers hammer. The £500,000 it is reputed to be worth could, I am sure, be put to good use.

Brian Derbyshire

Ribchester Grove

Bolton