In 1978, the Grizedale sculpture project was only a year old and Jos Mahon was fresh out of an Arts degree at the University of Newcastle. She had also recently completed a travelling scholarship to the west coast of Ireland, which is where the inspiration for this piece came from.

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Mahon commented in the periodical 'Aspects: A Journal Of Contemporary Art' (and later reprinted in 'A Sense Of Place') that the piece reminded her of the marks left by peat workings in County Mayo. She also said about the sculpture:

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"I found the weathered lumps of oak trunk in a local forester's yard. They were partially buried beneath layers of moss and turf which I pulled away to expose them. I liked their strong, simple forms, some bearing the mark of a saw made many years ago. I took them back to my workshop where they lay around on shelves for a few months, their shapes outlined against the whitewashed stone walls.

I sited the sculpture in Grizedale Forest, Cumbria. I walked the ten-mile length of the Silurian Way footpath, through a variety of woodland, looking for the 'right' site for the piece, and at the end of the 'trail' found a large clearing. It seemed a logical and proper setting for the sculpture."

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From this, we can try and narrow down the location. If Mahon walked the Silurian Way clockwise, as the guide maps recommend, then the sculpture was probably placed on the road section of the Millwood Trail (there is a stretch of forest road visible in the picture). If, however, she was in a rebellious mood and walked the trail counter-clockwise, then it would have been sited somewhere up near the 'Red Sandstone Fox'.

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These days Jos Mahon specialises in painting, but she still prefers to work in situ. She says on her website:

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"I need to be there, outdoors, braving the elements - working 'on the spot'. Here I love to watch the weather move and change and with the immediacy of paint and pastels, I respond rapidly to the thrill of a storm, the rage of the sea and wind or flight of a sea bird winging past."