Located in the 12-acre ancient woodland of Towerhouse Wood in Wraxall, Ty Sculpture Trail was started by Ty Partridge's father, Piers Partridge, to commemorate Ty's life after he suddenly passed away from Leukaemia at age 21.
On the Ty Sculpture Trail's website, Piers explains: "When Ty died, I wanted to create something to remember him by. Something that felt as permanent and rooted as he had been in my life. And then I remembered this idea I’d had several years ago of getting a wood carver in to create a trail of all the animals in the wood.
"But I thought I’d have a go myself - and do it in stone. A peculiar confidence grew in me, despite never having carved in stone before. The plan was vague but I knew I wanted the Trail not to be too in-your-face and obvious. I liked the idea of children needing to be sharp-eyed and aware if they were to find the animals. Because that’s the way nature is. You have to become a “Noticer.”
"And I wanted the carvings to seem old, a bit like fossils and cave paintings. I liked the idea that the Trail might educate children so that they could learn to tell the difference between a deer print and a fox print, a dog print and a badger print. These were the things we taught Ty, and he had learned (alongside his passion for gaming!) to love nature, spend time in the woods and walk the paths with his dog. If you educate children to notice nature, they are more likely to become guardians of our woodlands in the future.
"And finally I wanted to use the stone that was lying around the wood so that the sculptures would look natural in their surroundings. And be less easy to spot."
Soon after, Piers was joined by Phil Carter, father of Sam who was one of Ty's best friends, in creating the stone sculptures.
The stunning sculptures are quite subtle and easy to miss, we were only able to find 11 so far. Have you been able to spot all 16?
Here are images from our visit to Ty Sculpture Trail:
1. Goats
There are a couple of goats next to Jacklands Fish Lakes and Farm Shop.
2. Jacklands Fishing Lake and Farm Shop
Jacklands Fish Lakes and Farm Shop is open Wednesday to Sunday from 9am to 4pm and sells drinks, cakes and small gifts like handmade soap bars to name a few.
3. River
The Land Yeo runs across part of the woodlands and next to Jacklands Fish Lakes and Farm Shop.
4. Entrance by Jacklands Fishing Lakes and Farm Shop
There are parking spaces by Jacklands Fish Lakes and Farm Shop which is next to one of the entrances to Ty Sculpture Trail. Visitors are encouraged to buy something from the shop for using the parking. If travelling from Bristol city centre, the X9 Badgerline leaves visitors about a 15-minute walk away, the X6 about a 12-minute walk away and the X7 about a 2-minute walk away from this entrance.