Sydney Long Ears – Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s beautiful GoGoHares sculpture named in memory of the Trust’s founder – sailed into his summer spot at
NWT Ranworth Broad today, ready for the start of this summer’s trail, which begins on Sunday 24 June.
The team at Norfolk children’s charity Break have again partnered up with Wild in Art to bring GoGoHares trail to Norfolk this year, following the incredible success of the Gorillas in 2013 and Dragons in 2015. This year is particularly important for the charity as it is Break’s 50th anniversary and so will help the Charity celebrate its work with vulnerable children, young people and families since 1968.
Hares are a popular subject for artists and regularly seen in the countryside of East Anglia. As well as the trail of 50 city hares in Norwich, there are a further 18 rural ‘moongazer’ hares around the county, and Norfolk Wildlife Trust is delighted to host one at NWT Ranworth Broad. It is sponsored by NWT Investors in Wildlife, Swallowtail Print, who are named after the iconic butterfly of the Broads.
Sydney Long Ears is christened after Trust founder, Dr Sydney Long, who led a group of 12 friends in 1926 to purchase Cley Marshes and protect it “in perpetuity”. The hare is painted with a map of the Bure Valley Living Landscape (in which NWT Ranworth Broad sits) a landscape of wildlife-rich broads, marshes, fens, reed beds and damp woodland.
From its earliest days led by Sydney Long, the Trust has striven to secure precious fragments of habitat in an increasingly developed Norfolk and to connect nature reserves to maintain thriving landscapes. The Bure Valley Living Landscape now covers more than 10,000 hectares, including some of the finest wildlife sites in the country.
Mike Dawson at Swallowtail Print said: “Recently we have printed two beautiful books about hares, so when NWT asked us to sponsor Sydney for them, it seemed a great way to say thank you to this wonderful Norfolk species, help raise the profile of NWT and help Break with their project.”
Artist Beverley Coraldean enjoyed painting the landscape: “I feel lucky to live nearby to the broads and like exploring them by foot and by boat, so was excited when the broads map idea was chosen to be painted onto Sydney. Having worked with Norfolk Wildlife Trust before, I really enjoyed working with them again to create Sydney Long Ears! We met to discuss parts of the broads to feature in the map, focussing on nature reserves and adding in species that you can find in those areas to the design. I hope that both children and adults enjoy finding familiar locations on the map and looking for all the species!”
GoGoHares project manager Martin Green said: “We can’t wait to light up Norwich and Norfolk with beautiful creative sculptures which will offer something for everyone, encouraging people to get fit, find out about our charity and enjoy areas of the county they may have never visited.”