Centenary Stone – A stunning birthday stone
Images courtesy of James Banks
Centenary Stone – A stunning birthday stone: The National Trust was founded in 1895, the charity works to protect and preserve historic places and spaces, and plays an important part in the Lake District.
Beatrix Potter was a main supporter and bequeathed her land to it.
In 1995, to celebrate its centenary, the National Trust commissioned Peter Randall-Page, a British artist of international reputation, to produce an artwork for them.
His creation? A birthday stone.
Randall-Page took a large boulder of Borrowdale volcanic lava, sawed it in half and placed it on the shore of Derwentwater. It has sat there ever since, sometimes in plain view, sometimes submerged. Employing his trademark organic curves, into each sheer face the artist carved a circle of 10 connected wedges – like roots, like rivers, like brains – representing a century.
To visit the stone, head towards Broomhill Point. It’s a lovely flat walk of roughly 30 minutes among trees and across a field, best begun at the Lake Road car park, on the shore of Derwentwater.
Take the promenade past the National Trust booth and the small boathouse. Five minutes into the walk, there is a memorial to John Ruskin, who described this view from Friar’s Crag as one of the three most beautiful views in Europe and is one of the most popular places for photographs.
Continue round Standshag Bay, the first bay on the way, which makes a good spot for a picnic, and on to the second one, Calfclose Bay. The stone can’t be missed but, as it is not obvious what it represents, many thousands of ramblers must have wondered about it.
If only they had looked a little closer, just beside the path, they might have spotted a memorial plaque. The wood above on the left is Great Wood – another day, another walk. Red squirrels live in these parts. The animals inspired Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin – another era, another work of art.
Excerpt from ‘111 Places in the Lake District That You Shouldn’t Miss’ by Solange Berchemin, published by www.accartbooks.com/uk
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