The widow of former poet laureate Ted Hughes has objected to a new sculpture being built to commemorate him in his birthplace of Mytholmroyd in West Yorkshire, saying: “This project, the design of the sculpture, even the idea itself, all seem to me totally at odds with everything that was important to Ted, and to the person he was.” Plans for the £25,000 sculpture, based on imagery from Hughes’ poem ‘Churn Milk Joan’, are being considered by Calderdale council. The sculpture features a milk churn and two foxes, and is being paid for partly by the Environment Agency. There is no public monument to Hughes in the village, apart from a small plaque near his home.

But Carol Hughes said the sculpture would not be in keeping with the poet’s wishes. Writing to the Yorkshire Post, Mrs Hughes said: “I am disappointed that the project has reached this advanced stage without involving any formal consultation with me as representative of Ted's literary estate - something that seems surprising and more than an oversight.

“Many people will know that, for his final resting place, Ted chose that his ashes should be scattered on an area on Dartmoor here in Devon, close to the sources of several rivers he loved. He asked for a slab of granite to be placed there with just his name and dates to be inscribed upon the stone. Simple and beautiful. This project, the design of the sculpture, even the idea itself, all seem to me totally at odds with everything that was important to Ted, and to the person he was.”

Mrs Hughes said a more fitting memorial would be environmental work to improve the nearby canal with benches. She has formally objected to the plans.

Carol Hughes is not the only objector. Writing in the Observer, in an article headlined ‘Even Ted Hughes has fallen to the sickly cult of the twee’, journalist Martha Gill complained: “ ‘Churn Milk Joan’, a Ted Hughes poem about a milkmaid, is not sweet. It ends, for example, with the lines: ‘“Of her futile stumbling and screams/And awful death.’ There is a bit in the middle about being torn apart by foxes. Yet here is how Hughes – the poet who could extract unsentimentality from such unpromising subjects as newborn calves and songbirds – is to be remembered in his birthplace: a twee, two-metre-high statue of a fat milk churn and two cute little foxes, in tribute to the poem. The cult of twee has come at last for Hughes.”

Churn Milk Joan is also a boundary stone above Mytholmroyd, and a local walkers’ landmark.

Villager and arts worker Geoff Wood, who has led work on developing the sculpture, told the Yorkshire Post that full consultation on it had been done with the Elmet Trust, a Ted Hughes charity. He said: “We were under the impression Mrs Hughes knew about the sculpture and was comfortable with it. I don’t know what we do from here. Two years ago would have been the time for her to say ‘I don’t like this.’ I can’t stop her from objecting, but I’ll be extremely disappointed.

"I also feel that although Mrs Hughes is his widow, and she must care passionately about his reputation and his work, there are a lot of other people who also care about him and there are other voices. I would welcome meeting her, because a lot of people are extremely proud of Ted and his work. He’s a son of Mytholmroyd. This place was important to him. So it feels a little uncomfortable for the village to feel it can’t honour Ted without the consent of someone who doesn’t live here.”

Jane Scullion, Calderdale council’s cabinet member for regeneration and strategy, said: “As part of this process we will come to a conclusion on whether the sculpture meets the legal requirement to preserve or enhance the character of Mytholmroyd. We have received an objection from Mrs Hughes and will take this into account, along with any other comments or representations made on the application.”

ILLUSTRATION: YORSKHIRE POST