Walks And Walking – The Yorkshire Wolds Walking Festival 2013

Walks And Walking – The Yorkshire Wolds Walking and Outdoors Festival – 14th – 22nd September 2013

Walkers looking for spectacular scenery, welcoming towns and routes to suit all abilities already know that the Yorkshire Wolds boasts some of the most beautiful walks in the country. But now there’s even more to see as visitors wander the Wolds Way – the UK’s first public arts project on a national trail.

Walks And Walking – The Yorkshire Wolds Walking and Outdoors Festival – 14th – 22nd September 2013

Adding even more beauty to the countryside, ‘WANDER – Art on the Yorkshire Wolds Way’, will comprise stunning artworks ranging from green oak benches, each featuring poetry, to a stunning viewing platform flanked by 10 oak warrior figures. Commissioned by VHEY (Visit Hull and East Yorkshire) WANDER is the first trail of its kind in the country encompassing a series of public art installations on a national trail and takes its inspiration from the undulating Yorkshire Wolds landscape, famously also the inspiration for artist David Hockney. Over recent years, Hockney – who has made his home in the region – has been prolific in producing artworks featuring the East Yorkshire landscape including the famous Bigger Trees by Warter and his Woldgate Woods series.

Now the Wolds are being celebrated again through art. Contemporary artists are creating the 10 new public artworks offering visitors an even more awe-inspiring walk along the 79-mile National Trail – which starts on the banks of the River Humber and finishes on the dramatic Filey Brigg headland. Works by nationally significant artists are designed to complement and enhance the landscape and feature landmark art installations plus creatively crafted benches etched with poetry that are dotted along the walking trail.

Pride of place must go to the focal art piece, ‘Enclosure Rites’, at West Farm, Malton, comprising of a winding chalk path edged with Red Riven Posts, which draw the viewer to a stunning viewing platform by a new dew pond overlooking the magnificent Vale of Pickering and the North York Moors. ‘Guarding’ the artwork are 10 oak warrior figures, based on archaeological finds from the Saxon and Roman eras that can be seen at Malton Museum, while the dew pond acts as a ‘sky mirror’ as well as boosting the area’s biodiversity.

Elsewhere, walkers can rest a while to enjoy the views from sculpted benches by artist and furniture maker Angus Ross. Crafted from steam bent green oak, which will be allowed to naturally weather, they take their inspiration from the streams that spring from the chalk in the area. Each bench features poetry by local poet John Wedgewood Clarke, whose work is influenced by the history and landscape of the Wolds. The benches have been placed at various spots along the route, including Little Wold Plantation, near South Cave; Horse Dale Viewpoint; Folkton Wold and Sherburn Brow.

More details about the Yorkshire Wolds Walking Festival 2013, the Wolds Way and the new artworks, as well as other places to go and where to stay, can be found here.