Teesdale artist's folly beaten by the weather – for now

A TEESDALE artist known for his striking installations across the North was almost scuppered by the weather over the weekend.

Steve Messam’s latest piece named “Keep” was meant to keep passers-by guessing in Kendal over the weekend.

Poor weather almost put paid to his efforts - but the weather broke for long enough on Sunday to see his latest sculpture appear.

The Middleton-in-Teesdale based artist made his mark on the dale last year with his “Waterfalls” projections on three barns near Bowlees.

After a request from Lake District National Park, his latest project, a ten feet inflatable folly visible for miles around, was due to mark the Lake District’s new UNESCO status as a world heritage site.

Mr Messam said: “I was looking at the reasons why it got its status and part of that is the history of the landscape, understanding of landscapes and the way the Lake District National Park has shaped the way people think about the land.” “Keep” was due to appear near Latrigg in the heart of the national park last Wednesday before a two-day stint in Kendal. But high winds meant its debut was put off until it finally made its bow on Sunday. Commissioned for the Lakes Alive Festival, Mr Messam said he has drawn inspiration from the English tradition of follies.

“We haven’t many in Cumbria so I wanted to do something about that,” he added.

“It’s come down a very long road – originally it was a bouncy castle but we had a few problems and a lot of logistic issues with health and safety.

“With the timescale we had we made it nylon at the last minute.”

Mr Messam’s temporary artwork followed the bright red colour scheme of his paper bridge in 2015 which was strong enough to hold a car. He said the tower was designed to create its own new view of a well known stretch to change the way passers-by looked out.

Mr Messam added: “We’ve not made a big deal of it – it was mostly for people walking up the hill anyway because it’s quite a popular walk.”

The coming months will see him finish off a couple of other pieces.

He promised a “lot would be going on” next year.