A sculpture of fell running legend Joss Naylor is to be auctioned off for mountain rescue.
The bronze resin artwork is one of two created by professional Cumbrian sculptor Paul Bainbridge in 2008 to celebrate Joss’ achievement of running 70 Lake District fells on his 70th birthday.
One of the sculptures was purchased by the former Copeland Council to take a place of honour in The Beacon Museum while the other was retained by Paul.
After Paul heard the news of Joss’ death – he donated the second sculpture to raise money for Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team.
Joss, of Wasdale, died aged 88 on Friday, June 28, in the company of friends and family.
Joss took up running in 1960 and bagged so many titles and won so many races, he became known as King of the Fells and the Iron Man. He was awarded an MBE in 2007 for his services to sport and charity.
He was also the honorary vice president of Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team and officially opened the team’s new base outside Gosforth in 2018.
Mitchell’s Auction Company of Cockermouth have agreed to do a charity auction for the sculpture in their antiques and fine art sale on September 11, 12 and 13 this year.
The details of the auction will be made available online closer to the auction date.
Paul Bainbridge, born in Egremont, became a freelance portrait sculptor with Madame Tussauds in 1990 where he spent 12 years creating wax sculptures of famous people.
He left in 2002 to focus his attention on creating his own sculptures. Previous to this he was involved in art education for 25 years.
