Jubilee Statue Trail

The Sculpture Trail commences at Skidby Mill with a sculpture of the miller and comprises a gentle stroll through the village locating 4 more sculptures along Main Street and Little Weighton Road.  The Trail links with various footpaths to make longer walks around the village, up to Risby or as a short detour on the Beverley 20, perhaps for refreshments at Sails cafe, or the Village Hall (on a Friday morning).  A leaflet is available showing the Trail, which along with the Information Posts at each location were kindly funded by East Riding of Yorkshire Council's Do It For East Yorkshire Community Grant.

The sculptures that constitute the Skidby Jubilee Sculpture Trail were designed by Hull-born artist and teacher Neil Cameron, who also designed the Stepney Station Statues on Beverley Road in Hull. On both projects Neil worked alongside project manager Paul Browning and steel fabricators W. Campbell & Sons Ltd of Hull. The firm’s Brian Campbell had been involved with other celebrated statue installations in the East Riding, including the 158 Squadron statues at Lisset and the St. Andrew’s Trawler memorial, which is located on the north bank of the Humber at the former St. Andrew’s Dock.

The statues are constructed from Corten steel and were installed in February 2022, with preparatory basework being undertaken by PBS Construction.

On Thursday 1st February 2024, the Chair of Skidby Parish Council led two classes of pupils and staff from Skidby Primary School on a tour of the Jubilee Statue Trail. This began at the Windmill, which entailed a discussion about the history of the mill; why it was built at that location and the Thomson family who were millers there for many years. We moved on to the other statues but spent quite a while in an absorbing chat about the village forge. The children were told that on certain days, the blacksmith would call on the village children to come to the forge with buckets of water (we even looked at the white stone near their school which marks the site of the village pump). This would be the day when he was putting new iron rings around the rim of the wooden cartwheels. Once he had got the iron ring red hot, he would put it around the rim and the children would throw their water on it so that it cooled and contracted around the wood. It was great to share some of the history about the village with the children. For the twenty year 3 & 4 children in class 3, and the sixteen year 5 & 6 children in class 4, it was also their opportunity to show their knowledge - and it very impressive it was too! Back in school, class 3 have been working on their own Rodin Sculptures in Art so it was apt that we could look at some other types of statue. They were told how the Skidby Statues are made from Corten steel and were cut out using a large industrial laser cutter at Campbells' factory in Hull. The highlight of the afternoon's activities was definitely the exemplary behaviour of the children and their thirst for knowledge. They are a credit to their teachers and the school.