Sculpting history
Queen Mother’s Park in the
Ashford Green Corridor is now host to some new and exiting
sculptures. Funded through a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, the
Ashford Green Corridor Project commissioned local greenwood artists
Martin Brockman and Mark Sidders, to create sculptures which would
capture and convey the history of Queen Mother’s Park from its
wild, woodland beginnings, to its present day Local Nature Reserve
status.
The sculptures were created using English Oak from
Sylvan Environmental Enterprises Ltd woodland and were sculptured in
this same woodland at which they were felled. You may have spotted
the end results – a host of sculptured native plants and animals,
being transported through Ashford on a trailer to their new home in
Queen Mother’s Park. Emma Griffiths, the Ashford Green Corridor
Officer with the Kentish Stour Countryside Project said "Set
into position, the tall structures now stand proudly as a mark of
both the site and surrounding area’s history".
Positioned in a triangular format, the first of
the three stand-alone sculptures recalls an age when fewer people
inhabited the area and elk and wolf roamed freely. Have a look on
the reverse side and the elk’s antlers might not be what they
first appear! The second tall sculpture represents a herd of cattle,
capturing the agricultural phase of the park’s history and the
livestock market origins of Ashford. Emma Griffiths, Ashford Green
Corridor Officer said that the remaining stand-alone sculpture -
"celebrates the present day status of the site as a Local
Nature Reserve, with its carvings of those wildlife species the
Ashford Green Corridor Officer aims to entice into the park through
continuing conservation work". The final piece – a bench made
from an oak framework and sweet chestnut seats, evokes memories of
the orchard that once stood in this part of Ashford. The bench is
not quite yet complete with members of the Ashford North Youth
Centre due to participate in a workshop day, where they can design
and create their own interpretations on the bench.
