A frosty start to 2009

Happy New Year from Charlie and I. We hope you had a safe night and were not too scared by any fireworks overnight.

We have been out this morning for a walk by the side of the River Eden.

The frost has made the ground very firm so we kept quite clean and as the river was no doubt very cold we were stopped from going for a paddle.

Dad said the light, due to the low clouds, gave the photos a very early morning quality although it was around lunchtime.

As it is a while since we last came to this park, due to the muddy conditions during the winter, we were curious to see a new visitor.

A new visitor to the park

Standing high above us was the biggest bird you ever did see. He had his wings outstretched and was stood atop an old tree trunk about 3m in the air.

You can see the bird from quite a distance and he looks huge. Charlie commented that his beak did look far too big for his body.

We tried barking to see if he would fly off, but mum said that he was a carving made from an old tree and if we were not good boys this year, we would be turned into wood and put high away from sniffs.

I sniffed around the base of the tree and without being scared by the frogs and beasties watching me from their place carved into the the stump, I anointed the work .

Mum did a bit of research when we returned home and it seems as if the artwork has been made by a local artist called Alistair Neville.

Commissioned by Carlisle City Council as part of an improvement scheme, the six metre high piece of artwork has been chain-sawed into a Horsechesnut tree. The totem pole style artwork is themed on the nearby River Eden and includes a kingfisher, an otter, fish, frogs and other locally found wildlife and plant life.

Alistair started on the work in late October and has spent several weeks perfecting the sculpture.

The sculpture, along with three new ornate iron Kissing Gates installed at the entrances to the park, are part of an overall £40,000 project that will soon include other improvement and access schemes within Kingmoor Nature Reserves and the Kingstown Wildlife Pond. The money was given to the City Council from Barratt Homes following a land sale (to allow one of the developments to be completed).

The Kissing Gates were produced, on behalf of the City Council, by Brunstock Engineering and are also themed around the flow of the River Eden and activities within the park.

We will see if mum or dad will let us see the gates soon and we will report if we get any pictures.

Thats all for now.

Happy New Year

Buster and Charlie