Artist donates sculpture to fire-hit town

A large sculpture has been donated to a town to mark the start of its regeneration after a devastating fire.

One man died in the blaze last December in Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, which ripped through a flat on Main Street, displacing 20 people.

Sculptor Andy Kay said: "In the wake of the tragic fire in Kirkby Lonsdale in December, this is going to be a small part of the regeneration of the town."

In the coming weeks, the 10ft (3m) steel ram sculpture will be placed at the entrance to the town in the middle of the roundabout on the A65.

Mr Kay, who works from a studio just outside the town, said the area had been supportive of him when he set it up 30 years ago.

"Various people in the town helped me when I first set up the business," he said.

"I am a great believer in the community and I wanted to give something back."

The ram was chosen because Kirkby Lonsdale has old drovers' roads, used by farmers to bring their hill rams and sheep to the town's livestock market.

Mr Kay added the animal paid tribute to the local rugby club and the nearby Yorkshire Dales National Park, which both feature a ram on their logos.

"I hope the sculpture will be arresting – something that takes people's minds off the mundane for a few seconds," he said.

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