words: Sarah Robinsonpictures: Mike mckenzie

Published at 16:02, Wednesday, 02 July 2008

MORE than 1,000 visitors turned up at St Bees last Saturday for a day of beach art.

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The festival, which was hosted by Cumbria Wildlife Trust, combined sealife and art to celebrate Cumbria’s coastline.

A sand sculpture competition took place on the day allowing visitors to get creative and make marine life such as dolphins and starfish. There were 96 entries in to the competition, including sandcastles, fish and shell creations.

Sandcastle competition winner Alan Haile said: “Our whole family and friends had a great day, everyone has commented on how enjoyable it was. My five-year-old son said we couldn’t have made his day better. You can’t buy that.”

Keith Hitchen, Mayor of Copeland, judged the competition along with Paul Sloan, head aquarist at Maryport’s Lake District Coast Aquarium; Catherine Hooper, Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Shore to Sea Project Officer; and David Kennedy, who works for Wealth of Wildlife (WOW).

Event organiser Catherine Hooper said: “It was definitely a success, a lot of people enjoyed the day. The only problem was the wind!”

The event was funded by the Arts Council, Copeland Borough Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Cumbria-based artist Fiona Clucas, from Sizergh, ran a clay-modelling workshop and artist Annie Coxey showed visitors how to make felt pictures in her workshop.

Artist Ruth Castle showed children how to make marine themed masks and pictures to take away with them.

Catherine said the activities “went down a storm” and that she plans to hold a similar event in the future.

Experienced whale-watcher Sue Hooper showed people what to look for when searching for whales and dolphins. There was also an opportunity to spot birds, such as guillemots by taking part in a walk along the cliffs.

Published by http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk