The shape of the giant ‘land drawings’ was inspired by the pattern of the rails, once used by ‘stone pickers’ to wheel hand wagons, filled with freshly-blasted limestone from the quarry face. These were used in Hindlow up until the 1950s. The ‘drawings’ are visible in the dormant quarry bottom and were created by scraping the compressed and weathered floor to reveal lighter limestone fragments underneath, producing a stunning effect. The artwork is visible from the bridleway south of Hindlow, where a new sign has been installed to enable visitors to find out more about the inspiration behind the installation.
Andy Flanagan, manager at Tarmac’s Hindlow Quarry, said: “There has been a great deal of local interest in this project and it is fantastic to have the signage in place explaining the history and background to it. I would like to thank Eddy for his excellent work in reflecting the history of the quarry in such a visual way.”
Of his work, Dreadnought said: “This was a really interesting project in which through art we have been able to capture the industrial heritage of this important quarrying area.”
Dreadnought took his inspiration from Graham Sutherland, who in 1943 was sent to Hindlow, then owned by ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries), to document its war effort. The drawings that Sutherland made are mainly in the Imperial War Museum, with some in Newcastle, the British Council Collection and Sheffield. In summer 2014, Dreadnought became Artist in Residence at Tunstead, Tarmac’s main site in Buxton, but also worked extensively at Hindlow.
