A brand new set of enormous pieces of public art are aboutto be added to the Cumbrian landscape.

Five metres high and distinctive by their style of strips of metal, a huge bull and a mare with a foal have been commissioned by Cumberland Council to mark the completion of the new Carlisle southern link road.

Not without some differences of opinion about them, the new work will dominate two roundabouts for thousands of road users to see for years to come.

They’ve been created by Cumbrian born blacksmith and welder Ellie Barden at her forge and workshop near Penrith. On a fresh winter’s morning, Tom Speight went to meet Ellie as she finalised her work, to discover how she became inspired to become and remain an artist in Cumbria….

Barrow Music Weekender returns this month with four days of live music right across town. Now in its fifth year, the festival sees people of all ages come together for fantastic – and mostly free – music experiences.

There’s a musical trail map, a mini conference looking at thehealth of live music and performance in the town, workshops, dancing and live performance in venues right across the musical spectrum. There’ll also be a chance to see and experience Light Organ, an amazing audio reactive artwork that brings sound to life.

Tom Speight has been to meet the people who make it allhappen - beginning with a challenge from the festival organiser.

If you need to sort your leg up buttock from your insidehipe, then a new exhibition celebrating Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling at Florence Arts Centre in Egremont is the place for you.

Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling is a traditional formof “backhold” wrestling with origins going back to Viking times. It has strong cultural connections with farming and heavy industry; men would wrestle after work in their long-john underwear.

“Wrestle” tells the story of the sport through original artwork by Janet Moss, contemporary photography by Chris Routledge, archive photos and costumes and a community embroidery project.

And to celebrate the exhibition’s opening, a demonstrationof some of the holds and tactics was put on too. Tom Speight went along to watch to find out more…

Tullie, in Carlisle, describes itself as a museum, artgallery, community hub and generally a great place – as well as being a home for the eternally curious.

It’s 130 years old now. And it’s just undergone a £4.5 million transformation, fully reopening in April. Funding came from the government's Town Fund and Future High Streets Fund, Arts Council England and Cumberland Council.

So how’s its first summer being fully reopened gone ? And who’s been visiting ? Tom Speight’s been along to find out, and as the hugely successful Dinosaur Revolution exhibition draws to a close, he met a few young dinosaur experts on the way as he was shown around to discover how the new Tullie has been blended with the old…

For a few days every summer Andy Smith is in charge of thethird biggest town in Cumbria. Kendal Calling, which he set up when still a teenager, has grown to the point where its size has eclipsed the actual Kendal.

It's a stat that Andy looked back on with pride during aninterview with Tom Speight celebrating the festival's 20th anniversary at a networking event held by LA23NET atEden Arts’ base the Old Fire Station, in Penrith.

Lessons he shared: never say no to a music agent, knowing Blondie's songs doesn’t help if you don’t know who Blondie are, and the value of lawyers in getting your first big headliner to play…

It was also the launch of a new weekly arts newsletter for thecounty, Curated Cumbria.

When was the last time you shared some love for a saltmarsh ?

Salt marshes are the weird intertidal landscape of mud andgrass, occupying huge swathes of coastline around the world, continually exchanging their existence above and below water as tides rise and fall about them.

Deluge is a new exhibition of different media curatedby Art Gene in Barrow, celebrating salt marshes through three artists’ work. Over three years, Oscar van Heek, Dana Olarescu and Linde Ex have all visited three different locations, including Barrow, to respond in different ways to the glories of salt marshes. Read a great review of the exhibition from Corridor8 here.

Behind the Scenery’s Tom Speight has been along to find outtheir stories…

What’s bright blue, lives on the harbourside in Maryport andonce was a pub called the Queens Head ?

The answer is Shipping Brow Gallery, now just over a yearold and very much now a local landmark. The building had been home to Maryport Maritime Museum since 1975 but a new lease of life dreamt up by Dolly and Brian Money has seen it turned into an art gallery with both permanent and temporary exhibitions.

Painter Jim Osborne became its second ever artist in residence in September. His new group exhibition, along with Cockermouth printmaker Jack Fawdry-Tatham and Keswick painter Celia Burbush, called Tales from Elsewhere, takes place this March.

Tom Speight has been along to find out what makes theGallery - and Jim and his paintbrushes - tick….

The Catalyst project is an ongoing collaboration between the University of Cumbria, Art Gene, the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership and the Cumbria Arts and Culture Network.

Its aim was to find three artists with Cumbrian connections– to fund them to the tune of £25,000 each, to give them an opportunity to make a substantial piece of new art connected to the county over a year. Over 220 people applied.

Emma McGordon was one of the three award winners. She’s a poet, writer and storyteller originally from West Cumbria. She’s making a film about the area she’s from – something she’s never done before.

Tom Speight met up with her on the beach at St Bees, one of the key locations in Emma’s so far untitled film…

Rosehill is a beautiful arts centre based just outside Whitehaven high up overlooking the Irish Sea.

It’s a hub for all kinds of performance and brings both

CACN’s Tom Speight went along to talk to the people who are now running Rosehill to see how their plans are coming together for 2025. And we also get a chance to hear a Rosehill performance too – by Glaswegian singer-songwriter Alice Faye, on her Cumbria debut! She spoke with Tom Salmon and played him one or two of her tunes too....

Lorna Singleton is one of Britain’s last remaining swillers, a specialist in weaving baskets using coppiced oak and hazel. Using simple hand tools and ancient techniques, she creates baskets based on traditional patterns from South Cumbria as well as patterns found on her travels.

She’s based in Grizedale Forest – and as well as running her own one woman basket making business, she’s spent the last year teaching seven basketmakers the unique

This autumn, a beautiful exhibition by the same name has opened at Grizedale Forest Gallery, showing off the wonderful products they’ve all made.

For this episode of Behind the Scenery, Tom Speight went to talk to some of the basket makers. But he began by visiting Lorna in her workshop – to find out how she works…