Wooden Animals
While the wooden animals in Luton's Stockwood Park are somewhat fanciful, those in Grove House Gardens aim to be more realistic.
At one end of one of the three main paths across the centre of the Gardens sits a majestic golden eagle. He doesn't face the path directly.
Is he saying 'goodbye'? or simply 'take your litter with you'?
The other animal sculpture is a composite scene, displaying an owl perched on a dead tree. He sits further along the path from the eagle, also further back from the path itself.
Two squirrels (famously abundant in the Gardens) scamper along the tree trunk below him. (Handy if he's hungry!)
At the base of the tree behind the owl, two rabbits have briefly paused. ("Run, Rabbit, Run!")
So who made these sculptures and why? A little online digging revealed that the eagle was sculpted with a chainsaw by Ben Loughrill during Dunstable's Folk & Dance Festival in September 2005. It only took a few months for local vandals to snap his beak off! But fortunately it was possible to repair him by grafting on a new one.
As for the owl and his bunny friends, there is a plaque at the base of the tree:
The artist isn't named but given the dates -- and the similarity in overall style with the eagle, and of these rabbits with similar carvings shown on Mr Loughrill's website -- I am assuming he was responsible for this one as well. If any readers are able to confirm or provide more information, I would be very interested to know!
Concepts in Metal
The other series of sculptures in the Gardens is much more abstract, yet surrounded in much less mystery! There are four in total, situated side by side halfway along the central and arguably most-used route through the Gardens.
As you can see, they are also accompanied by a useful display board. This tells us that the sculptures were commissioned to mark the 25th anniversary of Dunstable Town Council. They aim to show what Dunstable residents value about their town and what things make it special. I found them interesting as being interpretations of local history and architecture, as well as examples of activities that reflect local popular culture.
The first sculpture (on the left when viewing them from the path) depicts the 12th century Priory Church of St. Peter. Unusually, the artist chose to include figures of people in the setting, which lends the piece a human touch that crosses the centuries.
As the display explains, Dunstable sits on an ancient crossroads - the junction between Watling Street and Icknield Way, both built by the Romans. (The intimidating and dangerous nature of this car-clogged junction in modern times is a topic for another time!) Meanwhile, I love that this piece of art was designed and built by local members of Mind.
The third sculpture is the most intriguing to me, partly because it features a bicycle (of interest to me in its own right, of course) but also because I couldn't think of any association that this might have with local history or events.
What on earth does Dunstable have to do with bicycles? This link turns out to be a little, shall we say, "manufactured". The sculpture was made by art students at Central Bedfordshire College (a stone's throw away from the Gardens). It was, as we know, commissioned by the local Councils, which gave the students a design brief: a skate park. Dunstable has a BMX track on the edge of town near the football grounds but doesn't actually have a skate park. However, it seems local youths want one... and the college students wanted to make a public case for one! I didn't know any of this until reading the explanation for the sculpture, but then recalled that a number of local residents involved in the interviews we conducted in the Gardens a month ago said "give our kids a skate park". And so this sculpture shows a BMX bike going over the top of a ramp. And there is a skateboard around the side:
The fourth and final sculpture evokes a scene much more familiar these days: the gliders we see in their multitudes flying over the nearby Dunstable Downs.
I think this is a very fitting representation of the local area and one that is firmly in the present day.
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