Plastic eating Philupa the fish installed in Westward Ho!

An anti-plastics awareness campaign that began in May 2019 continues at Westward Ho! with a new installation – Philupa the fish.

Philupa, a fabricated ‘plastic-eating’ fish, replaces a previous and larger installation known as ‘Philup’ which was ‘battered’ by storms.

Unveiling Philupa was Geoffrey Cox MP together with John Martin, owner of Carousel Amusements who sponsored the sculpture near Westward Ho! slipway and Philupa’s creator, artist Rob Floyd, a bespoke metal fabricator known as the Metal Guru. 

Rob said, “This version took two days to make and is galvanised, ie tougher because it’s been dipped in zinc. Philupa is also on wheels so can be used to raise awareness of plastic pollution elsewhere.”

Julie Martin said: “A big thank you to Geoffrey Cox for doing the honours today. We commissioned Philupa to be sculptured by local metal artist Rob Floyd as our small contribution to the fight against plastic pollution on our beaches.”

John Martin said, “Philup has been missed by the public and had quite an impact. This one is a lot stronger, easier to empty, and has a smaller mouth that takes the smaller plastic we can cope with.”

The new resident is designed to be filled with plastic bottles which will be removed and recycled by Torridge District Council.

Geoffrey Cox said: “I am really pleased to see that Westward Ho! is continuing to lead the way in its work to reduce plastic pollution in our seas and to raise awareness of this issue. It is an essential task, if we are to reduce our consumption of single use plastic items, and I am sure that Philupa will play an important part in this locally.”

Plastic Free Torridge‘s Andrew Cross said, “It’s great to have Philup’s replacement taking its place. The piece is a conversation starter. When people discover what it’s about ‘Philupa’ becomes a fun way of raising environmental awareness.”

top image: Group photo: L to r: John Martin, Rob Floyd, Geoffrey Cox, MP, QC.

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