Freidrich ENGELS once wrote that “an ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.”

But fans of the communist thinker won’t have to compromise on either aspect of class politics when a five-foot sculpture of his famous beard — that doubles a climbing wall — is built in Manchester.

Students and workers alike will be able to scale the structure when its unveiled at Salford University in 2016.

The monument to the Communist Manifesto co-author is being created by Ian Brownbill and Jai Redman of arts production company Engine.

Mr Brownbill told the Star: “The work is intended as an affectionate nod to Engels.

“And of course we hope it stimulates debate, especially around the current condition of the working class and how deindustrialisation has blighted northern towns and cities.”

The political pair started the project after reading about an earlier bid to build a memorial to one of the city’s most famous former residents in the book “Manchester, England” by former Hacienda DJ Dave Haslam.

“In the mid-1980s, a plan was mooted to relocate a statue of Friedrich Engels from an unspecified former eastern bloc country, to somewhere in Manchester city centre,” it explains on Engine’s website.

“The audacious plans seem to have attracted broad support, but failed to materialise when no suitable sculpture could be found.”

But the project has received criticism from some socialists.

“Engels wouldn’t have wanted a statue,” journalist Rachel Broady told the Salford Star. “He had no interest in pompous celebration of his existence.”

Others have pointed out that Engels had a much smaller beard during his time in Manchester.