Millington way posts
The Way Post Sculptures in Millington Pastures are the culmination of a nine month project funded by Arts Council England, Yorkshire with East Riding of Yorkshire Council.
The text based sculptures form a trail of eleven oak posts that spell in total the legend GAIT IN WOLDS; this refers to the “gaits” into which the common grazing land was divided before the Pastures became enclosed by fencing. Known as Way Posts, the sculptures are located at three sites, these being Pasture Gate, Thieves Sty and Millington Dale.
The four posts at Pasture Gate not only reference the “gaits” of pasture land but also symbolise a gateway to the Yorkshire Wolds. The posts at Thieves Sty stand either side of the public footpath, the old Roman Road thus lying within the two posts. Further down the Pastures, the five posts in Millington Dale extend over a distance, representative of the gradual unfolding of the Wolds. Each post also contains carvings that reference the surrounding land, portrayed by the use of map contour lines and visual horizon lines which help “locate” the sculptures within their surroundings. Way Posts are site specific to the Pastures which has protected SSSI status. .
The Way Post Project was initiated and developed by Artists Lis Molzahn and Paul Brooks, who worked with Service Users from Grovehill Centre, Beverley and Rawcliffe Resource Centre on art work which will be incorporated as an integral component of the eleven sculptures.
This community project has been based in Millington where workshops were held at the Village Methodist Centre. Groups from both Adult Centres have become regular visitors to the area and have formed a sense of ownership to the posts, the construction of which they have been familiar with from start to finish. Millington Pastures has been a source of inspiration for their creation of ceramic tiles which will be affixed on the posts, and also for additional work which was recently exhibited at Pocklington Arts Centre.
The Way Post Project received the support of East Riding of Yorkshire Council Arts Development, Highways Department, Countryside Access Team, and English Nature York. The Way Post Sculptures were designed and crafted by the Artists, involving the skills of associate artists Frank Connor and Penny Williams, metal-smith Ian Aikmann, and the British Trust of Conservation Volunteers who were asked to undertake a sensitive approach with installation. They are now adopted by East Riding of Yorkshire Council and will play a role in informing the Public Art Policy which is about to be commissioned.
