A NEW sculpture trail has been launched as part of a £500,000 project to help people become more familiar with creatures in the River Tees.

The five-year project, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Northumbrian Water, was officially launched at the Bowlees Visitor Centre, in Newbiggin, Teesdale, this week.

The trail follows the banks of Low Force Waterfall and concentrates on the area’s invertebrates, particularly the life stages of the river flies which are typically found there.

It is part of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership’s Cold-blooded and Spineless project and features four carvings of the mayfly and stonefly that participants have to find on a map.

They were carved by local artist Peter Graham using Harehope Quarry limestone and then embedded into the dry stone walls that run upstream from Wynch Bridge.

Mr Graham said: “Each carving took around four or five days to make and it was interesting doing the insects because you get to see a lot of the distinctive features really close up.

“I think it’s a great project because if you can look after the insects you look after everything else at the same time.”

Rebecca Barrett, biodiversity lead at the AONB Partnership, said the trail was the first art element of the project and was open to anyone.

“With Cold-blooded and Spineless, our aim is to open up the fascinating world of invertebrates to a wider audience,” she said.

“We want people to learn more about the species that live in the North Pennines and to understand their importance to ecosystems and to us all.

“We will be helping people to get out there recording what they see and where – we are expecting some new and exciting discoveries.”

A group of Teesdale School pupils also contributed to the trail as part of their environmental John Muir Award and some tested out four replica designs of the flies after they were created on slate and fixed to the walls of the centre for children to take rubbings from.

Mrs Barrett added: “Over the next four years we will be working with different communities and different types of art to celebrate different groups of invertebrates.”

To follow the trail, pick up a leaflet from Bowlees Visitor Centre.

For more information about the project visit northpennines.org.uk