BERGH APTON 2008 SCULPTURE TRAIL - BALANCE
Management Committee of Bergh Apton Community Arts Trust say
‘WELL DONE BERGH APTON’
And thank you, everyone, for your participation and understanding during the Trail.  So many did so much and spent so much time and effort. So our thanks to all of those who provided a welcome, or helped visitors in any way; to those who put out seats for those who needed a rest; to those who offered a much needed glass of something cool.
There are always heroes. Often they are unsung. For the Trail in 2008 there were many who’ll remain unsung. But some will have to be outed!
In particular we should like to applaud and thank John Burrage, who with his small team, through thick & thin, through snow & high water, ran the main car park for the Trail with amazing thoroughness, efficiency and good humour. A few needed to be towed from the morass but thanks to his management, very few. And the visitors were grateful & amazed!
Few who saw the excellent programme will have realised that it was designed and put together by a teenager. Daniel Price came up with the idea for the focal image, superimposing the globe over Christophe Gordon-Brown’s marvellous marble Spiral. He then worked on the layout of the pictures and wording. Well done Daniel – a smart- looking and easy-to-use booklet.
The drivers of Chet Taxis performed with great tact and careful driving, providing transport for those who found the Trail was too long or too tricky. Sometimes they had to employ diplomacy and all who travelled with them had only praise for the Chet team – thank you Tony Howells for the generosity of you and all your team.
And then there were Gunther & Renate Turk. They cleaned their garage, they painted it, they polished its floor, they removed every speck of dust, and then opened it for the Village Exhibition, welcoming nearly 40 Bergh Apton exhibitors (a record!!). Without their hard work, enthusiasm, determination and commitment visitors would have had no chance to see what we get up to behind closed doors. And, well done all those who showed the results of their labours – excellent they were too.
There are always those behind the scenes who slog away without anyone knowing; head down, hard at work for hour upon hour; doing whatever is required of them. One such, this year was John Ling. Without him the production of so much would not have happened and the functioning of the Trail would have been the less effective.
And, finally in this roll of honour, the two who beavered away, often against the odds, organizing the music and the great schools event on the last day. All this effort gave visitors a change of tone and a song or an airy chord or a stringed fantasy or even an Italian mandolin, with which to rest a while. Thank you Alison Freeman and Sue Hill.
And, lastly, finally, the gardeners. Without their willingness to lay the soils bare for the thousands, the trail would not start. But they all prepared, over many months of hard labour, the backdrop (that many came especially to see) for the works of art, bringing them to their peaks of perfection at precisely the right moment. Brilliant!
As for the show itself, there was so much. ‘The Dance – after Matisse’ by Lucy Unwin in the churchyard - the glorious ‘Wing’ by Christopher Le Brun, in the church – Rachael Long’s incredible metal-mouthed Shire Horse at the Harveys – Brian Alabaster’s ‘Core’ ancient vase with Richard & Sandy – and more and more – where does one stop. The sculptors put so much in to this show that it is so good when their work is appreciated and bought by visitors. We achieved records in several directions – in total sales of sculptures (the £50,000 barrier broken for the first time), the highest priced item at £8,000 and, a sell-out for two artists (never achieved before).
So, it was a success – and thanks to you.