VAST golden flags spanning an old lead mine in the North Pennines have been unveiled as a reminder of how people have influenced the landscape of the moors for generations.

The North Pennines AONB Partnership commissioned landscape artist Steve Messam to produce Hush- a temporary outdoor installation inspired by the geology, mining history and landscape of the area.

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Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England, the piece was unveiled at Bales Hush, an old lead mining site on the Raby Estate in Upper Teesdale, County Durham, this morning and will remain there until August 4.

Mr Messam, who is based near the site, is a renowned environmental artist who produces large-scale temporary works in landscapes around the world.

With Hush­ he has filled a 20m deep, 400m long gouge in the landscape- created when miners worked the hillside by hand to expose a mineral vein then flushed it with water to find geological riches below- with 5km of recyclable saffron yellow fabric, forming hundreds of suspended sails.

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The piece can be viewed from above or below, and is a 1.8mile walk from Bowlees Visitor Centre where information leaflets and maps can be picked up.

Minibuses will run to the site on Friday, July 19 and each weekend, between 10am and 4pm. They leave to the artwork on the hour and half-past the hour, and return to the visitor centre at quarter to and quarter past.

If you have specific accessibility requirements, call Bowlees Visitor Centre for more information 01833-622145. Guides will be on-site from 10am to 4pm daily.

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