News from my recent visits to the forest describing change to sculptures and new additions.
15/3/24
No new map yet,
Larch arch
Sculpture has been removed at some point since Aug 2022
Mountains we made
Sculpture has been removed at some point since Aug 2022, by artist due to damage from being climbed on at end of Ridding Wood
Go Ape & Millwood Trail Damage
Due to trees coming down the path from visitor centre to Millwood is currently closed. This has damaged part of Go Ape aerial course. Be interesting to see how they operate going forward as these tall trees can’t be replicated.
7/10/23
No new map yet, a lot of new posts installed around Carron Crag trail unsure if just replacing old ones or designating new trails. Hopefully they’ll clearly demarcate where cyclists aren’t allowed to go to save walkers getting run over on pedestrian paths.
Running from Eden
A sister sculpture to Last Rays of an English Rose has appeared on the Millwood trail.
New Sculpture seen
A colourful conical shaped sculpture (not unlike a circus tent) has been spotted in a holding area below Ruup. Unknown artist/name/siting location.
Arc
Managed to track down Arc’s location (the staff at the visitor centre had no idea what I was on about when I asked…) it’s down below the main track when heading north towards Moor Top after Mea Culpa’s and the turn to see Wriggle. Very hard to spot unless actively looking for it.
8/8/23
Ting Repurposed
In March Colin Rose re-sited Ting further into the forest (Not sure where at this point). He has repurposed the metal to create a new sculpture called ‘Arc’. Rather than the circle being upright, it now sits horizontally.
3/12/22
Two sculptures by Keir Smith relocated
Last Rays of an English Rose is now on the Millwood Trail. A Flower in Flower is now on the Ridding Wood Trail.
26/10/22
New Colin Rose Sculpture
A new sculpture by Colin Rose has been installed in the forest in the spot where Only Breath was. Ting is receiving repair before moving to a new location.
26/8/22
Poetry Stones
New sculpture installed on the Millwood Trail
15/8/22
Sculpture update for last few months: Checkpoint was sadly destroyed in the storms, the lower Millwood trail has recently re opened. Ruup had a near miss. Only Breath has been removed (hopefully for repair). Balance Stack Play has been removed for repair. Ting has also been removed, in discussion as to where to re site it – possibly in a tree further into the same field.
10/6/22
Richard Harris ‘Being Here’ Exhibition
A new exhibition has opened “curated specifically for and in response to Grizedale Forest”. Running from June 3rd to December 5th 2022
22/3/22
Checkpoint
I have been told that Checkpoint was destroyed when the Millwood trees came down in Storm Arwen. No update on any other sculptures, the west side still remains closed and east side with diversions. Subsequent storms in February may have exacerbated this.
15/12/21
Photograph of the Millwood Trail from the road with a lot of trees down. Ancient Forester 2, Ting and Aeolian Flutes all seen from the road as still standing after the storm.
14/12/21
News on partial opening of the forest post Storm Arwen.
29/11/21
Storm Arwen hit the UK overnight on the 26th November. The winds massively affected Scotland and the North of England. Lots of power outages, some areas lasting for days, mostly due to falling trees. Roads into Grizedale were blocked, power was out and the whole forest was closed to visitors. On the 29th they mention ‘extensive damage to trails and GoApe”. I can’t help but wonder how many sculptures have been affected by this devastating storm.
5/11/21
Steve Messam’s Intrastellar installation will be lit up at Grizedale Tarn on the 6th November for one night as part of the Dark Skies Festival. Subsequently was announced it would stay on the tarn (but not illuminated) until the 15th.
5/11/21
Mea Culpa + Mountains We Made
Mea Culpa has been moved to the west side of the forest due to felling around Bogle Crag Trail.
Mountains We Made was moved earlier this year to the end of the Ridding Wood Trail.
8/10/21
Arts council and Forestry England have “embarked on a revitalised partnership to bring ambitious contemporary artworks to forests across England” for the next 5 years. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed at Grizedale.
5/9/21
It seems Steve Messam will be returning later in the year with an “exciting new commission”. Wonder if this is the Nigh Skys artwork on the tarn that was sadly cancelled in 2019.
27/8/21
Landmarks TV series on Sky Arts will air on September 6th with the first episode including Grizedale.
30/6/21
Three new sculptures are being installed in the forest in collaboration with Sky Arts. Part of a new tv series to air in September called ‘Landmarks’. Artists from different regions submit sculptures, the overall winner will create a new landmark sculpture in Coventry. The three sculptures in Grizedale must represent the North. They are on loan for a year.
17/06/21
High Street Sign of Adventure
No longer in situ
7/06/21
Clockwork Forest
Sculpture has been re vamped, the music boxes have been altered presumably to make them more reliable.
28/05/21
Mountains we Made
Sculpture no longer in situ
25/5/21
David Nash exhibition will run in the gallery from 17th June to 12th December 2021
14/05/21
The Grizedale Residency artists for 2021 have been announced as Florian Houlker a multidisciplinary young artist from Preston and Susan Stockwell an established international artist.
30/4/21
Sheltered Seat
A new roof has been added to Sheltered Seat, returning it to how it used to look.
Photograph from Grizedale Sculpture’s official instagram page.
21/3/21
New Wolves
Sally Matthews has created two new wolves and sited them in the forest on the new white trail which crosses between Grizedale Tarn and Bogle Crag
28/1/21
The Royal Society of Sculptors have once again teamed up with Grizedale to create residencies for two artists: https://sculptors.org.uk/awards/grizedale-residency
The residency will run from 30 July – 11 September 2021 inclusively.
22/12/20
Waymarkers
Slug waymarker has been removed. Mole waymarker has fallen over and is now indistinguishable.
4/12/20
Aeolian Flutes
New sculpture has been unveiled at the end of the Ridding Wood Trail
26/5/20
Time Mirror
has been removed
16/5/20
Car parks re opened for visitors – all other facilities remained closed
22/3/20
Grizedale Forest closed to visitors to help stop the spread of coronavirus.
Photograph from Cumbria Road Police Twitter
12/3/20
New sculpture installed called ‘Checkpoint’ by Andrea Gregson. Sited on the Millwood Trail.
21/2/20
The below artwork was not installed due to stormy weather, rain and high winds. (Was planned to be back later in the year, but never happened due to coronavirus)
28/1/20
Between Fri 21 – Sun 23 Feb 2020. Steve Messam will have an installation called Intrastellar based in Grizedale Tarn. It will be there during the day, but will also be lit up at night. This is in conjunction with the Dark Skies project in the Lake District.
16/10/19
The Brian Mercer Trust and Royal Society of Sculptors residency at Grizedale will be an annual thing. The 2019 artists Karolin Schwab and Ben Allan currently have an exhibition in the visitor centre until the end of the year.
Ting
The tree Ting loops around is being felled as it is diseased. Grizedale are in discussions with Colin Rose as to what to do with the sculpture, possibly moving it to the neighbouring tree.
30/8/19
Balance Stack Play
Has been redesigned slightly
Sheltered Seat
Has lost its shelter completely
15/7/19
Pinnacles
No Pinnacles now remain.
29/6/19
Grizedale Arts Anniversary Weekend
For one day only Grizedale Arts opened their office in Coniston Village Institute Hall. Inside you could see maquettes of some of the early sculptures along with a folder full of newspaper clippings from 1977 onwards and several sculpture trail maps.
23/5/19
The Hunted
An exhibition of new works by Sally Matthews is on display in the Gallery. Featuring two new metal boars and two Wolves and a Stag made from material from the forest.
22/12/18
Proposal For Sited Work
The metal frame with stumps in has now been removed
Balance Stack Play
Currently part way through being installed on the Ridding Wood Trail
Sheltered Seat
The roof has been sawn off of Sheltered Seat leaving only a slight lip to shelter under
3/11/11
Janus
Janus remains in storage. Was originally on loan for a fixed period, may not return.
Time Mirror
Part of Lakes Ignite 2018, previously sited at Blackwell House, Time Mirror is in place on the Ridding Wood Trail.
11/10/18
Balance, Stack, Play
According to this months Cumbria Life Magazine “Balance, Stack, Play is currently being created from Douglas fir and will be installed soon on the Ridding Wood Trail.”
7/9/18
Ruup
New sculpture Ruup is officially unveiled today as part of the Lakes Alive festival weekend. The three wooden megaphones on Carron Crag lower slopes were commissioned in joint partnership with Grizedale and Lakes Alive.
5/9/18
Janus
Janus has been removed from the Ridding Wood Trail. The steep slope it was sited on beside the path has clearly been climbed on which presumably made the sculpture unsafe.
Sethera
Looking from the top path of the Ridding Wood Trail one of Sethera’s sheep has lost it’s head. This is not long after I noticed people had been hammering coins into the cracks in one of the animals.
30/8/18
Torment of Metals
Torment has been taken down, after having had yellow tape around it last year. It has been completely removed.
28/4/18
Sheltered Seat
Currently has orange fence around the top of the sculpture saying please do not climb on the roof.
Tree Charter Pole
This was recently installed on the Millwood Trail. Celebrating the Woodland Trusts new Tree Charter.
Spring 2018
Mountains We Made
Featuring at Lakes Alive in 2017, and part of Lakes Ignite 2018. This was installed in the walled garden at the Visitor Centre.
Treefold:Centre
A tree was planted in the centre of the treefold.
Proposal for Sited work
The boards explaining this artwork proposal have been removed leaving just the frame in place.
Winter 2017
Sharing
Charlie Whinney’s sculpture was installed back where the tree used to create it was cut down on the Silurian way near above Kennels houses.
A Cry In The Wilderness
The dogs on the wall have recently been damaged due to work in the area. The small squeeze in the wall has been widened, the wall made higher and a new bridge built nearby. This caused the dogs leaping the wall to be knocked down and loosely placed back on top, damaging it in the process.
Autumn 2017
Treefold:Centre
A stone treefold, a new sculpture was built as part of the Long View project just below Carron Crag Summit.
Prior
Picket Fence & Go Ape
This has been refurbished. Previously it had holes in it and was covered in green lichen. It has been fixed and re painted as if new. A new Go Ape Zip Wire has been installed at the same location descending from this point down various wires back to the visitor centre.
Grizedale Forest Sculpture An Unofficial Archive 