Tuesday 11 September 2012

We Visit The Sculpture Park at Churt ... WARNING! A Lot of Photos ...


Hello there! Many "Thanks" for your kind comments on my last post. It was amazing to see such an array of butterflies all at once. A bit like buses, you wait for ages and then three turn up at once!

On Saturday the weather was once again hot and sultry. I like the weather to be warm but don't really like it when it's too hot. But when you have good weather you can't stay indoors! The question was where could we go that wouldn't be too hot.

A few months ago as we were ambling along in the car we drove past The Sculpture Park at Churt. We had never heard of it but thought that it might be worth a visit one day. Well, that day was Saturday!

We initially got a bit lost and the OH said that he was running very low on diesel. He joked that we might run out. I didn't think this was funny - trying to find a petrol station in the blistering heat was not a pleasing thought!

Anyhow, we saw a man outside a local shop and he thankfully directed us to a petrol station.


We arrived at The Sculpture Park. Not many cars were parked outside. We thought that this might be a bad omen but as it turned out there were many fine sculptures - some creepy, some quirky but there was something that would please most people.

Most of the sculptures are for sale but with a hefty price tag! The Gladiator Bull one above I found creepy! I could just picture it in "The Adams Family" home. Do you remember that TV show, it was on in the late 1970's. A film was made of it with Angelica Houston as Mortitia. I can just envisage Lurch the butler placing visitors hats on the bulls horns and draping their coats on the arms. Maybe I have too vivid an imagination and should stop before you all come to the conclusion that I am completely ga-ga! I can hear the OH say, "It's only what I've known for years!"


But I liked the ever so large pull along toy horse.


Some pieces were quite abstract.


Whilst others were on a theme. There were many horse sculptures. I really liked the above.


KP liked the dog in this one.
The OH joked that this is the dogs owner praying that the dog doesn't poo and expect him to clear it up!
There's always one that will lower the tone!


There were sculptures made of wood, bronze, granite, glass, copper, slate, steel, stone and recyclables.


There were many interesting and varied items.


KP liked this rocking horse.


This sculpture was called "Headache". The sculptor has captured it pretty well but, you wouldn't want it in your front garden, would you?


I liked this wooden sculpture of the sun.


And the metal sculpture that you could see beyond it.


I thought that this one was quirky.


This was one of my favourites.


KP liked this horse made from driftwood.


The downright bizarre. Looks like the Harry Potter "Sorting Hat" on the top!


An interesting rooster.


We came across horses made from various thrown away items including a typewriter, a telephone, old dolls and other bits and bobs!


Take a closer look and see what you'll find!


We came across another horse. This one made of old horseshoes.


I really liked the person made from horseshoes.


I also liked this.


And this "Dandelion Head".


Some things were more abstract than others or as KP said "That's a bit random!"


Weird.


Cyclists!


There were many birds - some made of wood and some of metal.


Peculiar. Three pouting ladies! Trying for the Angelina Jolie look!


The Sculpture Park is set within ten acres of arboretum.


There were over 700 pieces in total. There are 150 sculptors who exhibit their work here. Some of the exhibits had been taken to London on loan and were displayed in the Olympic Park.


I took many photographs as you can see.


I liked this one of the dog and the tortoise.


I also liked this "random" work.


I was impressed by the variety of the work on display.


The OH liked this totem pole.


Another peice referred to as "random" by KP.


Some of the exhibits were massive!


And finally, a quirky elephant!

I apologise for the amount of photos in this post but it was going to be too difficult to choose which ones to  leave out so I thought that the more I included the more of the flavour of the place you would get! I hope you enjoyed the trip!

Until next time,

June.


22 comments:

  1. Hi June,
    What a fantastic set of photographs. My brother visited here last year and told me what a great place it was! There was hardly anyone there when they visited too! I favourite has to be the dandelion head.
    Sarah x

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  2. How utterly amazing. you've taken some great photos. Like Sarah, I think the dandelion head is one of my favourites. There's a horse and cart made of horse shoes that I pass on my way to work in Clermont Ferrand.

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  3. Hi June, fab set of photos! Must warn you though as several of my blog followers have posted about blogger charging for photos after a certain limit. If you check out Frugal in Norfolk blog (go via my blog if you dont follow her) and read her latest post! I didnt know anything about it but certainly dont want to have to start paying to post my piccies, X

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  4. I'm glad there were so many photo. This looks like a wonderful place, and an arboretum too! I really want to go there now!

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  5. Some of those sculptures are truly amazing, the horses made of all sorts are incredible. Thanks for sharing such an interesting place with us full of works of art by incredibly talented people.
    I'll have the dandelion head it you're buying please!
    Lisa x

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  6. They are all amazing in different ways - all artistic and beautifully made.
    I'm so glad you took and showed lots of photos, they are incredible.
    Will def try and visit here, i think my daughter would enjoy it too.
    Thanks for telling us about this - its great to learn of some new places to visit!
    Have a good week June!
    Gill xx

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  7. That sounds like an interesting place to visit. Some of those sculptures look a little scary to me but others I love.

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  8. What a fantastic place. I keep saying that we'll have to go to The Yorkshire Sculpture Park but we haven't managed to get there yet. I think the horse made from horseshoes is my favourite, but the horse made from bits and bobs is good too, I bet you could spend hours just looking at it and noticing something new that it's been made from.

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  9. I enjoyed looking at all your photos, I felt like I took a visit there myself..thanks for sharing. There are sure some really creative statues! I think my two favourites would be the driftwood horse and the elephant :)
    Magie x

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  10. Wow, they certainly did a lot of different horses! I was amazed at all those sculptures. Thanks for sharing.

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  11. What a fascinating place. I love loads of the pieces, especially the rooster. He would be such fun in the middle of the garden!

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  12. These photos are fantastic! They give a real flavour of the place, and it looks amazing. Very atmospheric. We have Yorkshire Sculpture Park not far from us and you've reminded me that I must go back there soon. x

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  13. I love lots of photos and those sulptures 'wow' I can't remember the last time I saw something so amazing.

    Nina x

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  14. I love the photos, never too many for me. The sculptures are amazing, that's a lovely way to spend a day.

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  15. Looks like a fascinating place to visit! I love all your photos but agree that some of the sculptures would be hard to live with. I bet you had a wonderful day out:)

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  16. Wow ! a lot of horses - my favourite is the large rusty pull along toy one.

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  17. This looks like an amazing place, what an impressive range of sculptures and lovely that you shared so many photographs. I love the dandelion head and the big pull along toy horse. xx

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  18. And I thought I posted a lot of rose photos, you should have seen the amount I left out! At least yours show an amazing range of different types of sculptures. What a great place, I've never heard of it. I really love the junk sculptures, very inspiring!

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  19. Hello June,
    soo many wonderful creations here!
    Thank you for sharing with us.
    Thanks for sweet words over on mine too...
    Maria x

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  20. My what an adventure . . . Kind of like Alice in Wonderland. So many strange and marvelous sights. I choose the one that I liked best, just to see that it was your favorite, too. Great minds think a like. :)
    Have an incredibly wonderful day, Connie :)

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  21. I think I can honestly say that these are among the best sculptures I have ever seen! Thanks. Love Helen, Darcy and Bingley xxx

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  22. Hey June, what an amazing place to visit, so many different sculptures to see........
    I started to pick out some favourtes but in the end there were just too many but I do love that big stag near the end plus the horse made out of trash.
    This is the sort of place you can't visit when you're on a time limit.

    Claire :}

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