ARTWORK representing the importance of physical activity during the Covid lockdowns has been installed on a path in Shepton Mallet.

The piece, specially commissioned by Somerset Council, has been created by county artist, Michael Fairfax, and features a series of bronze plaques representing different forms of active travel, including walking, cycling and horse riding.

There’s also one depicting the Covid virus itself.

A selection panel consisting of local authority and town council members, together with a specialist in contemporary arts, met last year to consider submissions by four Somerset artists.

The panel selected Michael to complete the commission based on his designs for the plaques and his track record for completing similar commissions across other counties.

The plaques, which were carved into oak by the artist before casting, have been securely fixed in the path.

As a local touch, shoe giant Clarks lent the artist a traditional wooden shoe Last – a solid form around which a shoe or boot is moulded – which he then used as inspiration for the feet which feature so prominently on the plaques.

The Shepton path ends at the retail park where the Clarks factory was located before it closed in the 1990s.

A plaque representing the Covid-19 virus on the path in Shepton Mallet

Cllr Liz Leyshon, deputy leader of the council and lead member for resources and performance, said: “We think this may be one of the first local authority art commissions in the country that marks Covid-19 and the growth of active travel in this way.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with Michael Fairfax and the wonderful volunteers of Greenways & Cycleroutes to bring this project to life.

“These plaques remind us that although the pandemic was devastating, there were some positive outcomes, for example the way we valued being outdoors and getting closer to nature.

“The council will work to open more multi-user paths across Somerset so people can experience the joy, freedom and safety they bring to communities, in good times and bad.”

A project volunteer said the installation was “one of the most rewarding sections of path I’ve worked on”.

The plaques can be seen embedded in the multi-user path between Collett Park, across the Somerset Council office car park at Cannards Grave, winding under the Historical Railways Estate (HRE) bridge and on to Townsend Retail Park.

The path was constructed by Greenways & Cycleroutes and contractors MP & KM Golding Ltd, with funding from the former Mendip District Council and Somerset Council. It’s part of the Strawberry Line and Somerset Circle.

National Highways arranged a ‘permissive agreement’ that enabled the creation of the route, working closely with HRE, the Department of Transport and the former Mendip District Council.

To find out more about The Strawberry Line, visit www.thestrawberryline.org.uk.