Hayfield (Bus Turnaround), High Peak
“The Queen Bee” was designed with Y5 pupils at Hayfield Primary School as a follow-up project to “Rail to Trail”. Again, there was a site visit to begin the project so that the pupils could appreciate the location where the sculpture was to be installed and how it might impact the site. At our first session in the classroom, we heard from one of the countryside rangers who talked about environmental issues, the site’s history and its wildlife. We discussed ideas together in detail and then I guided the pupils to work in teams to develop the ideas that had most interested them. They worked intelligently and enthusiastically, producing lots of inspired designs that really impressed me. As with the adult group, they developed their concepts by making models, further sketching and further group discussion. All of the workshops were highly productive, resulting in a plentiful and satisfactory output. Having looked through all of the ideas that came out of the workshops, including reading through pupils’ comments about each other’s models, I came to the conclusion that the train idea offered the best solution for the structure of the sculpture. Based on the train from New Mills Central arriving at the Hayfield terminus full of Sunday walkers back in the days following the Mass Trespass of 1932, this design concept referenced important local and national history and also allowed artwork from other pupils to feature in some of the carriage windows. In addition, this design has the interactive quality of providing an empty window in each carriage for visitors to pose behind for a great photo opportunity.
Date
???
Client
Hayfield Primary School
Photos
Vincent Abbey