While most of you reading this website will have one main aim from visiting the Crich Tramway Village – the trams in case you wondered! – there are also other attractions on offer for the general public, none more so than the popular Woodland Walk linking Wakebridge to the main museum site. Recently some new stained glass has been added to the entrance to the labyrinth, from local stained glass artist, Sandy Constable.
Sandy explains more about the process: “Back in October 2020, I was commissioned by Crich Tramway Village to design two fused glass panels to be set into existing standing stones in the Labyrinth area of the woodland walk, a beautiful natural setting over looking the Amber Valley. The work was made during the Covid pandemic, through restrictions and lockdown, where appreciation and celebration of nature became so important for myself and many people. The title of the pieces is ‘The Starling Murmuration’. The right side depicts nesting starlings in spring, as they fledge and rise into the sky. Later in the year the birds flock together moving as one, in mesmeric displays. The left side depicts early evening starlings flying in to roost. A starling skull in the decay of leaf litter completes the cycle of life. I hand painted each piece, using traditional stained glass paints. With multiple fusing’s in my glass kiln, I layered the different coloured pieces of glass together. I added frit powders for variation of colour and texture. On the right side bottom piece, I incorporated real fern leaves fired into the back of the glass.”
The new stained glass is now in place and is available to see by visitors to the Crich Tramway Village, which is now open Saturday to Thursday every week.