King Bladud’s Pigs of Bath – Summer 2008
“The King Bladud’s Pigs were one of the best boosts to tourism that I have experienced.”
Charles Curnock - Administrator, Bath Abbey
Whooo’s involved?
The Organisers of the Minerva's Owls of Bath 2018 event are:
Gitte Dawson, a B&NES councillor until 2007 who came up with the original King Bladud’s Pigs of Bath project and
Megan Witty, previously a producer/director at ITV in London and the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, who has organised a wide range of national and West Country events including the Pigs and Lions of Bath, Swans of Wells and the annual '24 Hours in Bristol' photo competition.
Find out about the rest of the Minerva’s Owls Project Team
The King Bladud’s Pigs 2008 sculpture trail – A colourful trail of 100 cheeky pig sculptures captivated Bath’s residents and visitors. The Royal Crescent preview weekend attracted 16,000 people and the charity auction raised £200,000 for the Two Tunnels cycle path project.
The Lions of Bath 2010 public art event - a trail of 100 life-size lion sculptures to celebrate the royal history of Bath, which increased footfall to the city and raised over £65,000 for local charities.
The Swans of Wells 2012 sculpture trail. The 60 giant swan sculptures displayed around England’s smallest city were referred to as the best thing to have happened in Wells for decades. The charity auction raised over £100,000.
The ‘24 Hours in Bristol’ photographic competition. Now in its 5th year, the event attracts entrants from across Europe, generates 10,000 new photographs of the city each year and results in a major exhibition of winning images.
Sculpture trails – Economic Impact
Sculpture trails not only raise millions of pounds for local charities, but also have a significant city-wide economic impact.
The ‘Great North Snowdogs’ trail in Tyne and Wear, attracted 676,000 visitors over the 10 weeks of the project, contributing an additional £7.2m to the local economy. 25% of visitors took in the entire trail and 35% spent six or more days completing it. 64% visited somewhere new in the city whilst following the trail.
Birmingham’s Great Western Mall saw a 25% increase in visitor numbers compared to the previous year.
During the Norwich elephant trail, Pret a Manger reported a 16% increase in sales, based on their sponsorship of an elephant.
On the first day of Pride of Northampton, an additional 25,211 visitors were recorded in the main shopping street, compared to the same day the previous year.
Sainsbury’s Colchester saw dwell time double while shoppers and visitors looked for giraffes.
‘Gromit Unleashed’ saw 1.18m visitors over the 10-week display period, of which 900,000 visited specifically to see the Gromit sculptures.
Footfall to Bristol’s Museums doubled.
The main Northampton shopping centre recorded an 18% increase in footfall during the lion sculpture trail and other local business reported an increased turnover of 14%.
A 20% increase in sales was reported by Jarrolds Department Store in Norwich, attributed to people visiting their sponsored sculpture.
Latest Media Coverage
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November 16, 2018Pop up Owls shop – Thursday!
October 24, 2018“Gromit Unleashed has helped shine a light on Bristol as a hub for culture, tourism and creativity and showcase its strengths in front of an international audience. We enjoyed tremendously positive publicity, welcomed more visitors from far and wide, and our businesses reaped the benefits.”
John Hirst, Chief Executive, Destination Bristol“The King Bladud’s Pigs were one of the best boosts to tourism that I have experienced.”
Charles Curnock, Administrator, Bath Abbey“‘Gromit Unleashed’ saw 1.18m visitors over the 10-week display period, of which 900,000 visited specifically to see the Gromit sculptures. Footfall to Bristol’s Museums doubled.”
Gromit Unleashed, Bristol“The King Bladud’s Pig project was the best thing that ever happened in Bath on many fronts. It really increased footfall around the city and helped independent retailers. It also brought people into Bath from the local environs, who continue to come long after re-discovering what a wonderful city Bath is.”
Annette Martin, Bath Aqua Glass“As one of the first businesses to sign up as a [Pig] sponsor, we saw the enormous positive benefits of being involved from the outset. The response from locals and visitors alike was remarkable.”
Martin Tracy, The Framing Workshop“The Swans of Wells sculpture trail really put Wells on the map in 2012 and attracted thousands of visitors to the city. Local businesses reported a significant increase in trade and people were drawn to parts of Wells they hadn’t visited before. The auction raised an incredible £100,000. We are all still talking about it today.”
Danny Unwin, Mayor of Wells 2012Little Owls have decreased by 70% over the last 20 years. The UK Little Owl Project is working to protect them and is based in Bath.
My pet owl will soon turn 180.
He’s not old, he just has a bad neck. (Hoot!)
For 2008’s King Bladud’s Pig trail 40,000 trail maps led pig fans on a city-wide journey of exploration.
Many owls have asymmetrical ears that vary in size and are at different heights on their heads. This allows them to better pinpoint where their prey is.
There are around 200 species of owl.
The largest is Blakiston’s fish owl (Japan, China, Siberia)
You can find Little Owls in a range of habitats including quarries, villages, orchards, parkland, liveries and on lowland farmland. They prefer semi-open habitat and avoid woodland. Read Emily’s Little Owl Spotter’s Guide here.
Owls do not have spherical eyes, they have tube eyes (providing better depth perception and allowing them to see prey from great distances. Their close vision is not as clear.)
“It was with sheer delight that I rounded a corner on my first ever visit to … where they were filming Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and saw a line of big, grey, fluffy, bewildered-looking owls blinking back at me.” JK Rowling
In 2008 the King Bladud’s Pigs auction raised over £200,000 for charity and 16,000 pig fans came to say their ‘final farewells’.
Little Owls love sunbathing! You can spot them basking in sunshine on their favourite perches during the winter months in parks and rural villages. On a sunny day, look out for Little Owls on barn roofs, poles and fence posts.
In 2008, a herd of 100 King Bladud’s Pigs descended on Bath to take part in one of the UK’s first public art sculpture trails.
Little Owls were introduced into Britain from Europe during the late 1880s to control garden pests.
There are thought to be 5,700 pairs in the UK.
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