Monthly Archives: October 2015

Option 1: Threshfield Quarry

This is an industrial landscape in an urban setting in the Yorkshire Dales. It used to be quarried for limestone, initially used by being burnt to provide lime for dressing fields and for mortar, cements and plaster. More latterly the stone was used for the construction industry. It was worked for over 100 years until 2000. Recently it was fully closed and restoration is now underway, with plans to develop a heritage trail, car park, information centre and business units.

There are a number of potential sculpture locations around the site.

The lime kiln area

Vehicle washing area

Gorge entrance

Of these, the location with the most potential seems to be the gorge entrance track.

The bare site seems to offer a blank canvas to play with. The site appeals to me as it has the evidence of previous industry with rusting metal and ruined buildings. Decay often seems to offer much more interest to me in terms of shapes and textures. The vegetation has taken hold in some areas which makes exploring the site seem like uncovering archaeology. There is also a desolate feel about the site, sadness about an industry now gone and a busy place returning to silence.

Option 2: Skipton

Previously known as ‘Sheep Town’ and ‘Sheepton’ before becoming ‘Skipton’, the market town has a long history as market for sheep and woollen goods.

It has one of the most complete and well-preserved medieval castles in England. During the Civil War, this castle was the last Royalist stronghold in the North, until its surrender in 1645 after a three-year siege.

The Leeds-Liverpool canal runs through it and textile mills were situated there during the industrial revolution as well as deliveries from sandstone and limestone quarries.

Now known as “Capital of Craven” and the “Gateway to the Dales” and its main business is from tourism.

A number of possible sculptures were explored.

A new canal bridge

This was an interesting idea to pursue, but in reality such a bridge would be too visually intrusive in such a historic area and would not fit in well with the surroundings.

Skipton castle

Smaller sites

Overall, there doesn’t seem to be a single area which would suit a large public sculpture (which isn’t already occupied). There are however a lot of smaller sites which would seem to offer the potential to link together with a sculpture trail. These sculptures would need to be linked together in some way. The ‘sheep’ connection has been explored already with various sheep decorated by artists as part of the local art event ‘Art in the Pen’ a few years back, of which one remains in the town.

The canal offers quite a number of sites, so a connection could be made there.

The idea which most appealed to me though, was the link which could be made through the towns proclaimed status as the ‘Gateway to the Dales’.

This could be celebrated through sculptures of map tiles depicting locations in the Dales, with a starting point of a map tile of Skipton. Other locations might include:

• The local ‘honeypot’ villages of Malham and Grassington
• The Yorkshire three peaks
• The Settle-Carlisle railway / Ribblehead viaduct
• Malham cove
• Caves (stump cross caverns / White scar caves / etc.)
• The Pennine Way / Pennine Bridleway / Dales Way
• Asygarth falls

A sketch of the Skipton tile:

References:

Destinationskipton.com, (2015). History : Destination Skipton. [online] Available at: http://www.destinationskipton.com/index.php/history/ [Accessed 21 Oct. 2015].

Facebook.com, (2015). Threshfield Quarry. [online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/threshfieldquarry [Accessed 21 Oct. 2015].

Skiptoncastle.co.uk, (2015). Skipton Castle, Superbly Preserved Medieval Castle, Yorkshire. [online] Available at: http://www.skiptoncastle.co.uk/index.asp?page=1 [Accessed 21 Oct. 2015].

Uwhg.org.uk, (2015). The History of Threshfield Quarry. [online] Available at: http://www.uwhg.org.uk/reports/displays/tq_display/history/history.html [Accessed 21 Oct. 2015].

Welcometoskipton.com, (2015). Welcome to Skipton | A Brief History of Skipton. [online] Available at: http://www.welcometoskipton.com/item/A-Little-History-of-Skipton [Accessed 21 Oct. 2015].

Ydlrt.co.uk, (2015). Threshfield Quarry Project main page. [online] Available at: http://ydlrt.co.uk/tfield_quarry/tfield_quarry.html [Accessed 21 Oct. 2015].

Option Chosen

I’m quite taken by both the Threshfield quarry gorge entrance site and also the idea of a sculpture trail around Skipton.

I may work on both of these for a while before deciding which one to finally go with.

The Threshfield quarry option would fall under the category of commemoration in referencing the historic industrial origins of the site and its return to nature, as well as being an aesthetic enhancement of the space.

The Skipton option celebrates the towns’ current connections, not historical events, so I guess this just falls within the aesthetic enhancement of a public space category. However, the development of a sculpture trail would presumably then put it in the category of facilitating social interaction from the viewers as they tour around the locations?

As a location for the starting ‘Skipton’ map tile, I think that the bus station is the best central location for this sculpture.