Text-based artwork trail
Created by North Yorkshire artist Adrian Riley with poets Ian Duhig and Charlotte Oliver. Installed in early 2025, it's inspired by the birds that nest in the area. This circular route including four pieces, invites you to experience the environment from a bird's perspective and even to imagine taking flight yourself.
'Flight Path' guides explorers of all ages around an accessible path. Panels embedded in the ground carry a line of poetry, encouraging you to think about our feathered friends accompanying you on your journey. The words mix together birdsong, rhymes, nuggets of information, and even a visual puzzle or two to solve.
Follow the trail further and you'll reach 'The Finest View'. A metal structure carries a poem by William Wordsworth when he and Mary Hutchinson walked to the clifftop at Sutton Bank on their wedding day in 1802. Additionally, a new poem by Ian Duhig responds to the area’s natural beauty and includes some intriguing folklore. The words are cut into the structure that is itself, an optical illusions- for the birds, at least.
Further on, the poem, 'Take Flight' by Charlotte Oliver invites you to sit on a series of oak blocks positioned to represent the acceleration of a bird launching into the air. It’s the perfect spot to rest before continuing on your journey. As you do so, keep a lookout for birdboxes each carrying a letter that spells out a word – the fourth artwork on the route.
Pick up a leaflet
Grab your free, fold-out booklet from the Centre to provide more insight into the artworks and life of Sutton Bank's birds.
Words in the Landscape is open all year round and can be found just beyond the Nightjar car park.