You may recall a post I put on the blog about various art works on Regional Route 44 in Didcot (24 Jan 2010). There are many more art works on cycle trails all over the country, including several on our own local routes: murals in Derby, Nottingham and Chesterfield, steel sculptures on the Nutbrook Trail and various sculptures in stone and steel along Route 6 in south Derbyshire and Leicestershire. I started to consider the possibility of putting some art works on the new Erewash Valley Trail and also on the Bennerley Viaduct. Features like this enhance the pleasure of our ride along the trails and at the same time erecting something permanent and striking can only help to raise awareness of projects like the EVT and the viaduct within the public at large. A tutor at a local FE college expressed interest in these public art works and his students are now working towards a BTEC unit concerned with public art. He has taken the students to the Bennerley Viaduct for a site visit. Last Monday (31 Jan) I went to meet the students and was very impressed with their ideas and their enthusiasm. Their designs tend to be sculptures that would stand either on or under the viaduct, and include bombs (the viaduct was bombed during WW2), silhouettes of figures looking from the viaduct, wind chimes driven by sprockets and chains, a marble snail and many more. Eventually, to achieve this unit, they will have to produce a scale model of their idea but it would obviously be even more exciting to actually produce a full-sized work of art and have it erected on the trail. This will cost a lot of money, yet the three "Wild Weeds" sculptures on the Nutbrook Trail bear witness to the fact that this can be done. I hope to engage local firms and other organizations in supporting this venture. If any of you out there can help in this, please let me know. Thanks. (Picture shows one of the Wild Weeds sculptures by Hilary Cartmell, near Stanton Lock.)
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