New Art Trail launches on Lindow Moss

Over the last two weeks a new Art Trail has been installed around Lindow Moss which was launched at a special guided event on Thursday, 20th June.

Initiated and organised by ecologist, artist and friend of the Moss, Phil Barton, the Trail includes work from students at Wilmslow High School, as well as installations by Phil and other professional artists (Liz Ellis, Steve Sutton, Juliet Hamilton and Rupert Randall).

The trail, which is an important component of 2024's Discover Lindow season, has been supported by Wilmslow Town Council, local arts charity the Evans Arts Trust, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Cheshire East Council and the Cheshire Community Foundation.

This week over 700 children from five local primary schools will be installing their contribution to the trail on and around the cut over peat bog and it will stay in situ from mid-June to late-October.

Children from participating schools – Lindow, Gorsey Bank, Wilmslow Academy, St Annes and Ashdene Primary Schools and Wilmslow High - have had visits from Melanie Giles, Professor of European Pre-History at the University of Manchester, which have helped to inform their work.

A new Window on Lindow trail leaflet guiding visitors around the art on display is available now and can be found either as a download via the website discoverlindow.org or at leaflet dispensers on the cutover peat bog off Rotherwood Road. Copies will also be made available at local shops, The Guild for Lifelong Learning and Wilmslow Library.

Complementing Window on Lindow, there will also be a series of art exhibitions in the summer and autumn terms this year at The Guild for Lifelong Learning. Exhibiting artists will include pupils from The Guild, an open exhibition for local artists and an indoor exhibition for the Window on Lindow artists.

Phil Barton said "The story of Lindow Man and the bog from which he came is truly extraordinary. To find the body of someone who lived in this landscape around 2,000 years ago, and to know how he died, what he had eaten just before his death and even that his hair and nails were neatly trimmed, is spine tingling.

"But as well as the 40 th anniversary of his discovery, 2024/5 will mark the next important stage of the restoration of the remaining peat bog drawing to a close a long process of peat extraction and release of carbon from the peat into the atmosphere - and the start of a new future for Lindow Moss, returning it to health, bringing back wildlife, storing carbon to tackle climate change and reducing flooding.

"All the artworks on display celebrate aspects of the archaeology, ecology and cultural heritage of Lindow Moss. The Discover Lindow Season is a wonderful opportunity for us all to learn more about this amazing landscape on our doorstep."

All the participating artists have worked on the basis of "leave nothing but footprints" so when all the art works have been removed at the end of October, there will be no sign that the art works were ever there.

For full details of all the events taking place this summer and autumn including family nature walks, creative classes, lectures and more, please see Discoverlindow.org.