The visitor centre was formerly the site of the stables for the old Grizedale Hall. Once Grizedale became a tourist destination, however, it became the main car park, with David Kemp's wooden giant created for it as a kind of mascot. Not straight away, mind you - although The Ancient Forester was built at Grizedale, he first went on display at the Glasgow Garden Festival, before returning to the forest and being installed properly. For the following seven years, it would have been the first face many visitors saw upon their arrival. David Kemp described the towering figure in 'The Grizedale Experience':

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"The Ancient Forester, a figure of great antiquity, lurks deep in the Gothic forests and wilderness between our ears. From Cernunnos, the horned Celtic deity to Tolkien's Tom Bombardil, he represents an idealised image of man the hunter, the mystic, the guardian. He lives in responsible husbandry with nature, and seeks a symbiotic relationship with his environment and its renewable resources.

Centrally-heated, carpeted, cocooned and double-glazed, we are becoming separate from our real life-support systems. Dazzled by the power of our clever machines, we are sawing off the branch we sit on. The Ancient Forester is a noble ideal."

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In 1995 when he was replaced by The Ancient Forester II, the daddy was moved up to a commanding position at Carron Crag, overlooking the valley. He lasted up there for a further twenty years or so, before finally being removed.

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Also by this artist:

The Chariot 1980

The Heron 1981

Rook Crossing 1981

Scale Green Birdman 1981

Deer Hunter 1982

Forest Fugue 1984

The Woodwinders 1984

The Ancient Forester II 1995