The 22-tonne attraction which was launched in Sunderland and soon raised lots of eyebrows

Here’s a poser for you. Tell us what weighed 22 tonne, was 130-foot long and caused huge interest when it was unveiled in Sunderland.

As a further clue, it was a floating piece of public art and it was launched on the River Wear 27 years ago this week.

It was Ambit and it was the toast of the arts world when it was unveiled in Sunderland in September 1999.

The 22-tonne,130ft ring of steel was fitted with a lighting system designed to create a halo in the water.

It was created by Turner Prize-nominated artist Alison Wilding, and built at a cost of £250,000 as a testimony to Sunderland’s shipbuilding heritage and here’s a look at how an interesting project made its way towards reality.

A model of Ambit was unveiled on February 18, 1997, 18 months or so before the actual artwork was installed. Ambit was launched on September 29, 1999 on the site of Austin’s Pontoon.

By October of that year its lights had begun to fail, and on February 16, 2000 it was taken from the Wear for tests and repairs after corrosion was spotted.

Ambit returned to the water in March of the next year but technical, environmental and criminal problems all dogged the artwork from the outset.

The sculpture’s lights were dimmed by a build-up of silt within a short time of its installation, then extinguished altogether when a timer switch failed.

Corrosion caused one of its connecting bolts to break and the sculpture became a target for vandals, who threw breeze blocks at it and cut its armoured power cables.

Despite attracting criticism from some Wearsiders, Ambit was well received in arts circles and was shortlisted for the prestigious Northern Electric and Gas Arts Awards.

In September 2000 it was dismantled and taken from the river after it was announced that it was going “on tour”, with the canals of Venice, London, or and other locations down as potential destinations.

The tour was scrapped and in February 2002, Ambit was allocated to be taken to Manchester as part of events at the Commonwealth Games.

But when the games came, it failed to make the line-up and later turned up in Manchester for a two-month stay as part of an arts exhibition.

Later that year it was dismantled and stored. In 2019, it was revealed that Ambit’s materials had been sent for recycling in 2014.

Tell us if you remember Ambit and your impressions of it, by emailing [email protected]