A rather special addition to the landscape of Whinlatter pass appeared just in time for this years OVO Tour of Britain. Local artists Claire Grant and Phil Wake together with school children from Braithwaite and Lorton Primary schools worked together to create a contemporary artwork high on the grassy slopes above Darling How near Lorton.
The large scale art work depicting a sheep riding on a bicycle was created using everyday household items such as bed sheets, jumpers, items of school uniform and socks. ‘Herdy of the hills’ combined the traditional idea of a bicycle together with a Herdwick sheep, a real symbol of the Lake District where they have roamed and shaped the landscape for centuries.
Four year old Wesley van Schelven said: “It was funny making a sheep out of table cloths’ and Molly Higgs (9) added ‘It was great fun working with my friends, making the biggest bit of art I’ve ever done.”
It has become quite a tradition to create land art masterpieces along the route of the Tour of Britain and this year a competition was launched to find the best and most eye-catching piece on the nationwide route. Phil Wake was thrilled to get involved: “We jumped at the chance to create something special for this showcase event and have the perfect backdrop within the mountains to make something eye-catching and quite humorous.”
The Herdwick on a Bike was shown on live television footage with commentators likening the idea to 1980’s cartoon character ‘Mint Sauce’ which featured in the monthly magazine ‘Mountain Biking UK’
Claire Grant Said: “It has been a fantastic experience creating this work that not only represents the Lake District together with cycling, but also is big enough to be seen from the air.
“The children and community members involved worked really hard to scale up the design into an enormous piece of land art and the result is superb.”
