A steel cow welded to a car and the sounds of St Hilda's Church are part of new arts project coming to Hartlepool

Projects are coming to the Hartlepool Show this weekend, as well as St Hilda’s Church and the Headland and Saltholme nature reserve, on the outskirts of Hartlepool.

A steel figure of a cow - welded to the roof of a car - will be at the Rift House Recreation Ground tomorrow from 11am.

It’s aim is to show that the world’s burger habit means that intensively-farmed cows are producing methane in quantities that rival car emissions.

The artwork is called Cow-Car and it is part of a project called Viewpoints by Festival of Thrift.

It will be on show at Rift House as part of the Family Fun Day, which has grown out of the Hartlepool Horticultural Show.

And if you can’t get along to Rift House, there’s other opportunities to spot the Cow-Car when it visits RSPB Saltholme on Friday, August 24.

Officials described the Festival of Thrift as “the UK’s national celebration of sustainable living, to challenge ideas of sustainability and offer different perspectives on local or global environmental issues.”

Cow-car’s creator is Andy Hazell - a former Reading University student who has also been the Queen Mother’s gardener, a tax clerk, courier, and ambulance driver.

But it’s not the only piece of artwork which is coming to Hartlepool.

Another piece, called Seed-bike (Last Ditch Attempt) will be at RSPB Saltholme on Friday, August 24.

Artists Lucien Anderson and David Lisser have built a mini mobile seed-library which they will cycle around the Tees Valley.

They will be talking to people and giving away a mix of vegetable seeds inside specially made plaster capsules, so that people can choose whether to keep them as their own personal seed-bank, or to break the capsules open and plant the seeds within.

As well as the two touring artworks, there’s a third scheme for Hartlepool.

A sound installation called Sonic Anomaly is coming to St Hilda’s Church on the Headland. The free project is open to the public between noon and 4.30pm from Monday, August 20, to Friday, August 24.

It has been created by sound artists Lee Berwick and Rob Olins. They used a mix of pre-recorded local voices and sounds electronically generated within and by the building, reflecting the local people and the unique position of the church on the Headland and as a refuge from the sea. Visitors to the church will experience different sounds and moods as they move around the building.

The Festival of Thrift was first held in 2013 and its aim is to celebrate the heritage and contribute to the future prosperity of Tees Valley and its industry.

To find out more, visit https://www.festivalofthrift.co.uk/