Ryhope will not be defeated: How the village rallied around its prized pit pony statue

Ryhope is a part of Sunderland which has its own sense of identity, having existed as a village for over 1000 years, and the colliery community later growing up around it in the modern age, it is no surprise that locals take pride in the area.

In 2009, the Ryhope development trust commissioned a sculpture to commemorate the heritage of the village. Crafted by Andrew Butler and placed on the entrance to the village on Stockton Road, the statue depicted a pit pony as a lasting legacy of the colliery which once dominated the area.

However, in 2021, a widely condemned theft seen the Pit Pony statue stolen in the middle of the night, and presumably melted down for scrap. It was never seen again, and the culprits were never caught. The theft was perceived as an attack on the Ryhope community itself and because of that, the impact was a very, very personal one.

For the next year and a half, residents of the village had to stare upon the now empty sandstone sign marked “RYHOPE”, knowing what was missing from it and recognising it as a grave injustice. But by 2023, the community had enough, and decided to fight back with their own wit, creativity and peserverence.

The Hope family are well known in Ryhope and are local community champions. Cris Watson-Hope runs the “Ryhope have your say” group on facebook, while her daughter Deborah, devotes herself to a number of community causes (including this one). However, her father (and Cris’s husband), Ron was tragically diagnosed with a brain tumour in February 2022 and has now been moved to St. Benedict’s hospice, putting the family through a tough time.

Ned, Rocky and others, photographed by Deborah Hope

Despite this, Deborah shown extraordinary leadership in paving the way for the restoration of the “Ryhope pit pony” by one day, deciding to one day place a rocking horse on top of the sign titled “Ned”. The new pony received widespread attention, and the Ryhope community responded positively by placing toy horses of their own around it, another one soon popped up called “Rocky”. Soon, there were multiple ones present, including a “Little Ned.”

One day, someone decided to steal “Ned” and dump it into Ryhope Dene. Deborah hunted it done, cleaned it up with her hosepipe and restored it, vowing never to give up. But then suddenly, on June 27th, something miraculous happened, a new pit pony sculpture, hand crafted, appeared on the site of the sign.

The new sculpture was made and donated anonymously, nobody knows who done it, yet it is a beautiful piece of work which emulates the style of the original. It also comes with a small sign warning people not to steal it, because it is not made of metal. It also made a cheeky appearance on twitter too.

Hopefully, this is the happy ending to this saga that we’ve all been hoping for. It is a story which demonstrates the unity, passion and shared pride of the community which is Ryhope. The village suffered from a devastating and horrific theft, yet through their own initiatives kept their spirits and overcome it. Ryhope will not be defeated.