Award-winning BBC wildlife TV presenters Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan have become official ‘Owlbassadors’ for Bath’s forthcoming sculpture trail – Minerva’s Owls of Bath.
The two presenters, who currently co-present the BBC’s popular Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch series, are both keen owl fans and swooped at the opportunity to be involved with the Owls of Bath event, which begins on 25 June 2018.
Michaela Strachan at Boulders Beach in Cape Town, South Africa
Michaela said: “My first wildlife presenting was on a children’s show called OWL TV, which stood for ‘Outdoors and Wildlife’ so it seems very fitting to be an ambassador for ‘Minerva’s Owls of Bath’ sculpture trail. I love the thought of colourful sculptured owls landing all over Bath – it’s a Really Wild idea!”
For Chris Packham, the project has a double attraction, and the opportunity to combine two of his great loves – wildlife and painting. Chris has signed up as an official Minerva’s Owl artist and will be painting one of the giant owl sculptures to help raise funds for the UK Little Owl conservation project.
Chris Packham with ‘Scratchy’ and his owlet at home in the New Forest
Chris said: “I’m very flattered to be asked to owl-it for Bath this summer. The Little Owl is not a native species but it has won a place in our hearts and is now in serious decline. So this project is about history and natural history and about time and our perception of it. About our world changing in that time. I was going to go ‘naturalistic’ but now I’m thinking of anthropomorphising my owl. Maybe personalising it a bit, giving it a bit of my own history.”
The Owls of Bath will be nesting on the streets and high spots of the city and surrounding towns for three months this summer. Around 100 large Owl and smaller Owlet sculptures will be on display, each individually decorated by talented artists, and sponsored by local businesses, schools and community groups.
Each of the large Owls will be fitted with an interactive beacon which will send information and interactive questions about that Owl to people’s phones as they approach. At the end of the trail, the sculptures will be auctioned off in aid of four local charities including the new RUH Cancer Centre, the B&NES Young Carers Centre, the Roman Baths Archways Project and the UK Little Owl Project, which is based in Bath.
Amongst the latest businesses to sign up as Owl sponsors are Milsom Place, Combe Grove Hotel, The Ivy Brasserie, Mogers Drewitt, The Silver Shop, Holburne Park, Bath Aqua Glass, Bath Quays, BMI Bath Clinic, The Owlery and the Norie Trust. Schools and colleges who have so far confirmed their involvement include Oldfield School, Twerton Infants School, Monkton Prep School, The Paragon and the Royal High School. They join Headline Sponsor Southgate Bath and Gold sponsors Bath BID, MHA Monahans, The Percent Club, Norland College and Allen Ford.
Packham and Strachan join Glastonbury’s Michael Eavis CBE, wildlife photographer Andy Rouse and BBC historian Professor Bettany Hughes as official ambassadors for Minerva’s Owls of Bath.
Michael Eavis by the Pyramid Stage at Worthy Farm, home to Glastonbury & owls!
Michael Eavis CBE said: ‘We’re great owl fans here at Worthy Farm and have even have owls living behind the Pyramid Stage. Seeing giant painted owls all over Bath this summer should be quite a sight and I’m looking forward to an owl-prowl once they take up their perches later in the year”.
Award-winning international wildlife photographer Andy Rouse has published a stunning book about Little OwlsAndy Rouse is one of the world’s leading wildlife photographers and conservationists. He has won many awards for his work and has a reputation for searching out and photographing wildlife in natural habitats to tell a story about the incredible beauty of the natural world.
Andy is passionate about Owls and has published over 17 books, including a stunning photographic book on Little Owls.
BBC Historian, Professor Bettany Hughes is delighted to support the Owls of Bath event and celebrate Bath’s Roman historyProfessor Bettany Hughes is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster, who has devoted the last 25 years to the vibrant communication of the past. Her speciality is ancient and mediaeval history and culture. A Scholar at Oxford University she has taught at Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
Bettany recently wrote and presented a new landmark BBC series on Socrates, the Buddha and Confucius and for the last decade she has been researching a new history of Istanbul, which was published in 2017. She is currently making a film on the life story of Aphrodite.