Carlisle's Cracker Packers immortalised in bronze

The statue at Paddy's Market was installed yesterday and is being officially unveiled this morning.

The Cracker Packers - the affectionate nickname for workers at the former Carr’s factory - was commissioned by Carlisle City Council and created by award-winning artist Hazel Reeves, who has been working on it for the past year.

It features two women workers, one from 1910 and one from the present day. They are standing on a bronze Carr's Table Water biscuit mounted on a granite plinth.

The statue is being unveiled at 11am today - International Women's Day - by female McVitie's workers.

Hazel Reeves was at Paddy's Market yesterday to oversee the installation.

She said: "It's been a real privilege to be part of Carlisle for this past year.

"The cracker packers helped me design it. I hope it does them proud. I hope to capture their spirit, warmth, humour and camaraderie. That's what this is all about.

"It's so rare for working women to be commemorated. It shows that Carlisle is proud of them. They've given so much to the factory. So many people know people who have been cracker packers.

"There are so few statues of women. They tend to be royalty or mythical. To actually have working-class women in particular is a real joy."

The only other statue of a woman in Carlisle is that of Queen Victoria in Bitts Park.

Hazel worked with current and former cracker packers to develop the statue, with the support of the city council, McVitie's owner Pladis and Cumbria County Council's Cumbria Archive Service.

Hazel will be at today's unveiling. Also present will be Cumbrian author Hunter Davies. He wrote a book about McVitie's workers - The Biscuit Girls - and in 2014 had the idea that their contribution to Carlisle should be commemorated with a statue.

The statue is privately funded, including a contribution from Pladis, £65,000 from Sainsbury’s, which has a nearby supermarket, and £5,000 from Hunter Davies.