New art installation on cycle path

A new Portrait Bench has been installed halfway along the cycle route between Kenilworth and the University.

Three life-sized community figures have been cut from sheet steel into distinctive works of art. They surround a simple bench seat looking over the Kenilworth countryside.

The first of the three local figures is Helen Martin, who supported the newly created University of Warwick with donations through her charitable trust from 1963 until her death in 1988.

Ms Martin stands with John Kemp Starley, whose 1885 Rover Safety Bicycle was produced in Coventry and has been recognised as the first modern bicycle.

The figures of Martin and Starley are accompanied by that of Edward Langley Fardon, an engineer whose workshop and family still reside in Stoneleigh. The Veteran Cycle Club recognises Farley as another pioneer of bicycle design.

The University’s press and communications manager Kelly Parkes-Harrison explained the purpose behind this installation and why these three people were chosen.

“The portrait bench is part of the Sustran’s Portrait Bench series, a national public art project that is unique to each local area.

“Communities nominate local people to become the figures on their local Portrait Bench.”

Fourth-year Chemistry student William Laye said that he has appreciated the portrait bench when cycling past it:

“On the one hand I think it’s a really cool thing to have in the middle of the ride. On the other hand, it makes me massively annoyed I don’t own a penny farthing!”