Living Landscape by Broadbent Studio - Introduction

LIVING LANDSCAPE

LIVING L ANDS C AP E

An artwork ... to be seen from the road to be walked through to be used by ecologists and educators

Over the tracks and under the road, Along by river and brook, Through Wakefield B to City Fields

Animals find a nook.

THE LOCATIONS FOR THE 5 ARTWORKS IN CITY FIELDS

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

LIVING LANDSCAPES - DESIGNS & DRAWINGS

ALL THE ANIMAL SHAPES ARE CUT-OUT IN STEEL & CRINKLED, THEN ALL WELDED TOGETHER

A PARADE OF ANIMALS RUNNING, FLYING, TWISTING & TURNING THROUGH THE GRASS

THE CORRUGATED METAL ANIMALS ARE BRIGHTLY COLOURED

THE 5 SCULPTURES TRANSPORTED ON A BIG WAGON AND LIFTED INTO POSITION

THE ANIMAL SCULPTURES ARE BOLTED TO CONCRETE FOUNDATIONS

I live in a lovely warm nesting box, that someone very kindly built for me.

I listen to all the noise of your busy day, and when its dark and quiet I come out to hunt. I am a very good hunter.

I have lop-sided ears! One is higher than the other, which helps me pinpoint exactly where tiny sounds are coming from.

BARN OWL

Scientific name: Tyto alba

I also have large eyes that scan quickly to spot a mouse moving in a very gloomy barn.

And very long legs, toes and talons to help me catch prey hidden under long grass.

I eat voles, shrews, mice and sometimes rats, and I swallow them whole – coughing up bits of fur and bone as an owl pellet, which you can find if you look.

If you don’t see me, you might hear my screech, I never hoot.

See you tonight

BADGER

Scientific name: Meles meles

I was born in my underground home, between the brook and the river, in a place you call City Fields.

I live there with my family, you might see our hobbit-like burrows, that we dig with our strong front paws.

I don’t know why you call us badgers, as we are not bad, but I do like having fun playing with my brothers and sisters at night when you are home in bed, but if you do see me, you will recognise me by the black and white stripes on my face.

I grow quite big, and have a big appetite for small mammals when I can catch them, and also birds’ eggs, worms, fruit and plants. See you tonight maybe, Bye…

To feel safe I don’t build houses like you do. I camp out in a hollow in the ground so I’m ready to quickly run away from danger.

I am very fast and would easily break the speed limit on the road by your school.

I can run 45mph when I’m being chased by cats, dogs and badgers, but I do have big ears to hear them coming.

BROWN HARE

Scientific name: Lepus europaeus

To keep my children safe I have to listen very carefully for birds of prey above me.

You call me a Hare, and you think we go mad in the spring, when you see us standing up and boxing each other.

I am normally a bit shy, but look out for me this March, I’ll be in the farmers field near the hedge. See you then …

Hello,

You will see me living in the grass and shrub close to hedges, and even near your home.

I really like living in your farmland as there are safe places to lay my eggs on the ground, but I have to stay clear of the fox and the badger.

You call me a Grey Partridge, although I have lots of other coloured feathers on my tail.

I like eating seeds, leaves and even slugs and snails, but when I am disturbed, I prefer to run instead of fly.

But I can fly, but to be honest I am a bit scared of heights, and so prefer to stay close to the ground.

See you around the hedge sometime

GREY PARTRIDGE

Scientific name: Perdix perdix

GRAYLING BUTTERFLY

Scientific name: Hipparchia semele

Hello,

I love sun-bathing and can camouflage myself on warm rocks or rusted steel, with my colouring and patterns making it very hard for you to see me.

You call us a Grayling Butterfly and many of my relatives live by the seaside, but my family love to inhabit old quarries, railway lines, and old industrial areas like City Fields.

In these scrubby areas there are lots of plants and flowers that I love such as teasels, thistles and brambles.

Flutter Bye… For now..

GRASS SNAKE

Scientific name: Natrix helvetica

Hello,

If you build a big compost heap in your school garden, and a pond where I can swim and catch my dinner, I’ll come and live there.

I love warm compost heaps where I can hatch my eggs in the autumn, and hibernate over the winter.

But don’t worry I’m harmless to humans, even if I am the longest snake in England.

I think I am very beautiful and I love sun bathing, but I have to be very careful, because badgers, red foxes, cats and hedgehogs would like me for their dinner.

But my trick is to pretend I’m dead, and then I hiss and release a horrible smell to scare them off.

Please let me know when you have built my new home, Bye…

RED FOX

Scientific name: Vulpes vulpes

My family used to live in the countryside, but I’ve built my underground burrow not far from your house in the town.

I live with my family and our territory is the railway embankment down from the river, its a quiet place where I can sunbathe or sleep during the day.

You are more likely to see me at night when I hunt small mammals, birds and frogs, and dig for worms or pick berries and fruit.

If you don’t see me, you might smell my trails that help me get home safely in the dark.

Sometimes I scavenge your bins for scraps, you might see me, or perhaps hear me tonight.

EUROPEAN EEL

Scientific name: Anguilla anguilla

Hi everyone,

Did you know that my family have lived in your river Calder for thousands of years, although there are fewer of us now, which is sad.

You call me an EEL, which is a funny word, but I’m not a snake, although I swim a bit like one. I am actually a fish, but you will notice that I have no fins.

I’m still young like you, but when I’m older I’m going on a long adventure back to the Sargasso sea where I was born, everybody does.

I’ve learnt to catch my food as I can swim very fast, but I also eat animals that have died or fish eggs and even insects when I jump out of the water.

I can also hold my breath and slither on land to another pool of water, I probably won’t be able to see you though, as my eyesight is not so good.

I make my home near all the water pools made after the coal mines in Wakefield closed, and hibernate with my family in the old tunnels and mines over winter.

You call me Daubenton’s Bat, after a French man who discovered us, but you could call us Water Bats instead, because we all love living by water.

DAUBENTON’S BAT

Scientific name: Myotis daubentonii

If you come to a pond at twilight, you will see me and my family diving down, and scooping insects off the surface of the water with our feet.

We make a lot of noise to make a sound-picture of where we are hunting, but your ears are not good enough to hear us, which is good

See you at twilight maybe, Bye…

Hello,

In late spring and summer you will see me flitting around the edges of slow-moving rivers, ponds and lakes near to where you live.

You call me a Banded Demoiselle Damselfly and I was born in your canal, my egg was injected by my mother into the stem of a plant under the water.

BANDED DEMOISELLE DAMSELFLY

Scientific name: Calopteryx splendens

It took me about two weeks to hatch and then I was a larvae for two years, overwintering in the mud at the bottom of the canal.

Then I developed into a beautiful Damselfly with a fingerprint pattern on my wings that allowed me to fly out of the water and into the air

Flitter Bye for now…

Hello,

I’m not an ordinary beetle as I can hold a bubble of air under my shell, and dive deep down into ponds to catch food.

We are known also as The Great Diving Beetle, with some giving us the scary nickname of Water Tigers.

It’s probably fair, as we are voracious predators, hunting smaller invertebrates, tadpoles, and even small fish.

Even when I was a larvae I was a fearsome-looking beast, with big biting jaws, that look a bit like underwater Devil's Coach Horses.

I can also fly, usually at night, because I can use the reflection of moonlight on water to find new ponds.

WATER BEETLE

Scientific name: Dytiscus marginalis

But one time, I was mistaken by the reflection of water on your new road, and thinking it was a pond I was nearly run over by one of your cars.

Perhaps I’ll visit your pond one day

WATER SHREW

Scientific name: Neomys fodiens

Hello,

I burrow a home in the side of the brook in City Fields, where it has been my family home for generations.

You call me a water shrew, because unlike other shrews I am a bit bigger and love swimming in water.

I spend much of my time hunting for invertebrates and even swimming underwater to catch caddisfly and mayfly larvae.

Do you know that I have a venomous bite, with poison in my saliva that can stun animals much bigger than me, but not as big as you.

Bye for now

Hello,

My family has always lived in Oakenshaw Beck in Wakefield.

You will recognise my burrow in the bank, as I have a lovely nibbled 'lawn' of grass around the entrance.

You call me a Water Vole, but in the children’s story ‘Wind in the Willows’ I’m called Ratty!

But I am not a rat! They are larger than me.

And I have lovely chestnut brown fur, not grey brown fur like a rat

And I don’t have a pointed nose

WATER VOLE

Scientific name: Arvicola amphibius

Or large ears that protrude from its fur,

And a long, scaly tail.

I have a lovely blunt, rounded nose, small ears, and a furry tail.

So you are very happy to visit, but don’t call me a rat!

Hello,

For thousands of years all the fresh water rivers and streams that run down the valley to Wakefield have been my home.

Although things are tough for us right now, I still love living with you here, as the water is rich with minerals that help me grow a strong shell, and big claws.

I am a bit shy and hide under stones and rocks in the stream, and I use my pincers to catch my dinner or cut up plants.

WHITE CLAWED CRAYFISH

Scientific name: Austropotamobius pallipes

Maybe I’ll see you by the stream Bye.

Hello,

Even though I am really tiny - and weigh as little as a 2p piece! I like to build my house high up in long grass.

If you look carefully you will see a beautiful home for my 6 children.

They have to climb a single piece of long grass to get into their suspended woven-grass nest.

You call me a Harvest Mouse, and I have a very long tail that I can use as another arm.

This helps me to climb and hang upside down like a monkey.

Which is great fun in the long grass.

Bye for now

HARVEST MOUSE

Scientific name: Micromys minutus

Hello,

I’m one of your neighbours, you might have seen me in the woods or the park, and sometimes even in your garden.

You may think I’m a wasp, but I’m a Hornet, well that’s what you call me.

I build my home by chewing up wood and making a really big house out of paper, where I live with all my brothers & sisters.

But please don’t be afraid, I’m a good neighbour and a friend to gardeners.

HORNET

Scientific name: Vespa crabro

My favourite food is nectar and sap, and also other bugs which we share with our Queen. Bye.

Hello,

I can see you, but you won’t see me unless you are looking up in the sky.

I hover above you, keeping my eyes perfectly still, before swooping down. But don’t worry I don’t eat humans

You call me a Kestrel, and I like eating much smaller mammals like voles and mice.

I like living in this part of Wakefield because of all the long grass here.

I build my home in holes in trees, or even in your old buildings which are very cosy.

KESTREL

Scientific name: Falco tinnunculus

Bye for now…

KINGFISHER

Scientific name: Alcedo atthis

I’ve made my home in a steep section of river bank near the bridge, its a deep tunnel where I can safely lay 6-7eggs in the spring.

I like it here, where the water slows down and I can catch lots of small fish to feed my hungry young chicks.

You don’t call me a king-fisher for nothing as each young chick needs over 12 fish every day!

My best fishing spot is a firm perch overlooking a clear, shallow pool of water.

To catch a fish I dive in the water super fast, with my eyes closed and beak open. Then back on my perch I hit the fish on the branch to kill it, so that I can eat it head first.

I am a bit shy, but you will recognise me by my beautiful bright blue and orange feathers.

I’ve got to go now, lots of fishing to do

Hello,

You may call me the lesser spotted woodpecker, and even though I’m the smallest woodpecker, I am very special because I am not a common woodpecker.

I’ve made my home at the very top of the trees that run along the railway in Wakefield, where I creep along branches in search of insects.

Because I am not much bigger than a sparrow my ‘drumming' is much quieter than other Woodpeckers.

LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER

Scientific name: Dryobates minor

But, I do have a loud call that you will hear from my home, high up in the trees, so do look up, as I am always watching you. Bye Bye

TORMENTIL MINING BEE

Scientific name: Andrena tarsata

Hi everyone,

I always make my home close to a plant that has given me my name.

And its good that the old industrial areas around Wakefield have lots of these plants growing wild.

You will also see the little yellow flowers of a tormentil plant on roadside verges.

So please don’t cut them down as this was where I grew up as a larvae and became a bee.

As a bee I dig my home in the sand, which is why you call me a mining bee.

I am a busy bee collecting my nectar on the flowers of bramble, harebell, ling, wild angelica and yarrow.

Lots to do

See you later

OTTER

Scientific name: Lutra lutra

Hi everyone,

My ancestors have lived in your river Calder for a very long time, although you may find it hard to see us, as we like to hide.

You may see our five toed footprint along the river bank, or our droppings which we leave as scented messages at fallen trees, weirs and bridges.

You call me an otter, and I’m an excellent swimmer, with dense grey brown fur to keep me warm, a broad snout and a pale chest.

I also have webbed feet and can close my ears and nose underwater to help me catch fish for dinner, yum yum

See you by the river, and one day you might even see me.

Hi everyone,

I like making my home in the ponds and brooks you have left behind after coal mining.

I don’t like it if there are too many fish though, as they gobble us up when we are just eggs.

You call me a Palmate Newt, because of my webbed back feet, but we don’t just live in the water.

When we grow up a bit, we start to live on the land, where I like to catch my food during the night.

I am particularly fond of a crunchy grasshopper, yum!

PALMATE NEWT

Scientific name: Lissotriton helveticus

I have been hibernating over the winter in the tree roots of a big tree near one of your houses.

But in the summer, If you come out at night with a torch, you might even see me.

PURPLE HAIRSTREAK BUTTERFLY

Scientific name: Favonius quercus

Hello,

If you find an oak tree, there is a chance that you will see me also, but you will have to look up, as I like to chase around the top of the tree.

I was born in a big oak tree, right next to one of your houses, so please look after it.

I have lived in the same place all my life.

At first I was a little egg at the base of oak bud.

Then a caterpillar feeding off its flower buds.

Then in the bark of the oak tree I magically pupate into a beautiful butterfly.

In the spring and summer you might see my brilliant purple sheen, which is why you call me a Purple Hairstreak Butterfly.

Flutter Bye for now…

RIVER LAMPREY

Scientific name: Lampetra fluviatilis

Hello,

We have been swimming along the river to Wakefield, long before people even built your house or any houses in the town.

You call us River Lamprey, and you probably think we are a bit strange, because we look different to many other fish. I don’t have a jaw, and my mouth is a round sucker, which I use to suck the bodily fluid out of other fish, or to suck up dead fish at the bottom of the river.

I was born in Wakefield, but when I was young I swam along the river to the coast and out into the sea, where I lived for many years.

It was a great adventure being in the sea, but know I have made the long journey back home to Wakefield, to lay over 25,000 eggs in the river, which I hope will survive and swim out to sea, just like I did.

Hello,

I come a long way to visit Wakefield in the summer

When I arrive, I build my summer home with my friends in your flooded gravel pits, leftover from your old coal mines, or in the sandy banks of the river you call Calder.

We tunnel long holes in the sand, and make nests of straw for our eggs, if you look along the banks of the river you will see us.

That’s why you call me a Sand Martin, although many people think I’m a Swallow, because of my forked tail.

You will see and hear us flying and singing together, and swooping down to catch a bug.

In the autumn we fly all the way back to Africa, thinking about our fun summer holiday, splashing in your river

SAND MARTIN

Scientific name: Riparia riparia

See you next year.

Hello,

You call me a Brown Trout, but some of my family are called Sea Trout.

The difference is that I stayed in Wakefield after I was born in the River Calder, and my relatives chose to leave us, and swim to live in the sea.

Sometimes I think I am missing out, but I do like living in Wakefield, as I know where everything is, like the tastiest insect larvae, and the best flying insects.

BROWN TROUT

Scientific name: Salmo trutta

Also we have fast flowing parts of the river, with great gravel that is warmed by the sun.

You might see me there if you look from the bridge.

Hello,

In the spring you will see me fluttering around in the park, or in your garden, I hope it makes you happy.

People say the beautiful yellow colour of the brimstone's wings inspired the name 'butter-fly'.

But I was not always a butterfly.

When I was a larvae I was dependant on the leaves of the buckthorn shrub.

BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY

Scientific name: Gonepteryx rhamni

So if you want to see me fluttering in the spring, plant a buckthorn in your garden.

But don’t worry when the caterpillars are eating all the leaves.

Butter bye…

COMMON FROG

Scientific name: Rana temporaria

Hello,

You might see me hopping around, as I am one of your neighbours, and was born in a pond near you.

I hibernate over the winter in pond mud, or under a log pile, and in the spring lay frog spawn, in large jelly like clumps in the pond.

I spend much of the rest of the year feeding in woodlands, gardens, hedgerows, or any tussocky grassland, where I can catch some delicious slugs and snails.

You call me a frog, which is a type of amphibian, that means I can live both on land, or in water.

Maybe if you build me a pond, I will come and visit your garden

See you then..

Hello,

You will see me over the summer, flying very fast around the ponds, catching my dinner mid-air, and having great fun.

You call me a Common Hawker, a type of Dragonfly, that you can see hawking over the water.

I hardly ever stop flying, doing my tricks in the air.

I can hover and even fly backwards!

Sometimes I perch on a branch, and then you will see my beautiful blue eyes, and my colourful blue and yellow spots.

COMMON HAWKER

Scientific name: Aeshna juncea

Bye for now…

COMMON TOAD

Scientific name: Bufo bufo

I love hearing all the stories about us Common Toads. Stories about warts, witches, and princesses.

What is actually true, is that fact that we are the gardener's friend,

As we suck up slugs and snails, and hibernate in the garden over winter, often under log piles, stones or even in old flower pots!

I am a bit worried this year about crossing your new busy road.

Around St. Valentine's Day every year, all toads migrate from their home to their breeding ponds.

And my pond is on the other side of the road!

Will you help me please?

Bye for now…