Animal Magic

There are many single-track roads edged with mossy stone walls in Cumbria. But between Kirkby Lonsdale and Kendal, not far from the River Lune as it wends its way towards Lancaster, one route in particular leads to the workshop of wildlife sculptor Andrew Kay.

The beauty of the region has long been celebrated. William Turner and John Ruskin immortalised the Lune valley at Kirkby Lonsdale in paintings and words, with Ruskin describing it as ‘one of the loveliest scenes in England’. Even today, the observant visitor, rounding moorland hills spangled with black-faced Swaledale sheep, may spot a red deer emerging from a distant wood, or note a buzzard gliding overhead, its wings moving minutely as it scans