Today we headed off towards Liverpool. To Crosby Beach the home of a piece of modern sculpture by
Antony Gormley, it is called Another Place. Getting to it is quite tricky as all that the road
sign says; ‘
Antony Gormley, Another Place’. So you have to know what you are looking for.
The sculpture consists of 100
cast iron figures which face outwards the Irish sea. Spread over a 2
mile stretch of the beach. Each figure is nearly 6
feet 2½
inches and weighs around 650
kg.
In common with most of
Gormley's work, the figures are cast replicas of the artist's own body. As the tides ebb and flow, the figures are revealed and submerged by the sea. The figures were cast by Joseph and Jesse
Siddons Foundry in
West Bromwich.
Another Place was first exhibited on the beach of
Cuxhaven,
Germany in 1997 and after that in Norway and Belgium.
Another Place is a subject of local controversy in Crosby. Some consider the statues to be "pornographic" due to the inclusion of a simplified penis on the statues, whilst others see them as beautiful pieces of art which have brought increased tourism revenue to the local area.
As of March 2007 permission was granted to have Another Place permanently installed at Crosby. Initially, coastguard authorities expressed safety fears, saying people could become stuck in soft sand and be cut off by the tide when viewing the statues up close.
In October 2006, the local council refused permission for the statues to stay, prompting
Gormley to criticise what he called Britain's "risk-averse culture." He said "When I have been down on the beach myself, the majority of people have been intrigued, amused, sometimes very moved," he said.
Another Body Place Ltd, a body set up to campaign for the permanent installation, helped to convince the council to change its mind. The statues are now set to stay on the beach. The
scuplture was very good, and I think it will be a place we will come to again, as it will be
different each time you see it, as it is affected by the sea, weather
ect.
We then went on to
Formby to seek out Red Squirrels and Pinewood Forests. Again, it was not well sign posted, just the National Trust sign showing us the way, good job we know what the little Oak Leaf is!
Formby looked a nice town, it seems that lots of footballers live there...We saw lots of posh houses! To the west of the town lie pinewoods and sand dunes (rather eroded, and not as good as St
Annes!). The whole of the coastline here is managed by the
Sefton Coast Partnership.
The pine woods at Victoria Road have been established as a National Trust reserve for the
red squirrel, listed on the
endangered species list.
Formby is one of several sites in Britain were the red squirrel can still be found although it is now being threatened by the
grey squirrel. The red squirrels may not be native to Britain but possibly accidentally introduced from Scandinavia in the 20
th century. We did not see any, but that could have been due to having the dog with us?
Formby is also famous for the presence of
natterjack toads.
Formby is only one of a few sites in England where they will breed. Later in the evening the male’s distinctive song can be heard and is known locally as the ‘
Bootle Organ’. In spring the males gather at the edge of shallow pools in the dune slacks and sing to attract a mate. We heard the toads but did not see them.
A blue lakeland stone cottage, it doesnt come out blue on the photos? It looks grey?
Outbound, it was a quick 
When I think of it now, we got about during our short 5 days in Melbourne, went to