Aim

The 11 metre tall grass like sculptures are designed to create drama within the landscape and to identify Larkholme Grassland from the promenade. The beacons act as way-finders for pedestrians and reflect the philosophy of the Eco Park.

Concept

The striking, slender sculptures are inspired by blades of grass in the wind, and reflect themes of natures interdependence within the patterns on the grasses - highlighting the connection and pairing of Flora & Fauna for example; the red tailed buff bea and sea holly.

The 1.5km strip of land is now known as Larkholme Grasslands. It was already classed as a Biological Heritage Site (BHS) before the seawall works. BHS are wildlife sites of county-wide importance, because of the rare species of flora and fauna which grow there. This site was designated for its valuable coastal grassland.

The specially created sculptures are designed by artist Stephen Broadbent. He also designed the artworks at Cleveleys. They bring to life the diverse range of marine species that give the area its Biological Heritage Site status.

https://www.visitfleetwood.info/about/seafront/rossall-coastal-defence-scheme/

Installation

CB Arts (Chris Brammall Ltd) manufactured the 9 sculptural grass sculptures and the Markers in their studio in Ulverstone. The Sculptures were successfully installed on a cold day in January.

CB Arts were approached by great friend and client Stephen Broadbent to design develop, fabricate and install a series of landmark sculptures along the new sea defences at Rossall, Lancashire.

Stephen designed a series of colourful aluminium grassland beacons which stand tall at pedestrian access points along the promenade and act as way-finders connecting paths to the promenade.

https://cb-arts.co.uk/portfolio/larkholme-grasslands/

Process

The 11 metre tall grass like sculptures are stencilled with flora, fauna found in the ecology park and these are complimented by three timber totems which stand at 8 metres tall and feature the name of the park in green lettering. 

Broadbent Studio also designed and created two sculptural bridges as part of the Rossall Ecology park.

They also link the Rossall section to the Mythic Coast, an artwork trail based on the folklore and myth surrounding our local coastline.

Visitors to the Mythic Coast can follow an artwork and poetry trail from Cleveley’s seafront, based on the popular children’s book; The Sea Swallow. The story continues to Rossall Point Observation Tower, Cleveley’s seafront

https://www.visitfleetwood.info/about/seafront/rossall-coastal-defence-scheme/

This video was made on 7 May 2020 as part of the ‘Walk on the Beach’ series, filmed during coronavirus lockdown –

https://www.visitfleetwood.info/about/seafront/rossall-coastal-defence-scheme/