Artist Kate Lycett on creating 'Summer at Kilburn': "In July 2024 I went in search of the best view of the Kilburn White Horse (at least the best view possible from the ground!) and followed instructions to find two benches above Kilburn Village. Ploughed fields are always a gift and there aren’t too many to be found in Calderdale; I love the patterns they make. It was a dry day in a damp month, so the verges and the meadows were full of wild grasses and flowers. In my search, I walked away from the horse and followed an overgrown footpath, including footbridges over a private estate.
Five horrible dogs were throwing themselves against a fence dividing the narrow path from their land, leaving me very rattled! In getting away from them I found myself in a beautiful meadow below Kilburn, in which everything was almost as tall as me. After being frightened by the dogs I decided I’d earned the right to include it in the painting. The Kilburn White Horse is a figure cut into the hillside at Sutton Bank in North Yorkshire. It was created as a northern version of the chalk figures in the South of England in 1857 by John Hodgson, a local school master, aided by his pupils and local volunteers. The very best views are to be had from the gliders which set off from above the horse, from Sutton Bank Gliding Club."
Five horrible dogs were throwing themselves against a fence dividing the narrow path from their land, leaving me very rattled! In getting away from them I found myself in a beautiful meadow below Kilburn, in which everything was almost as tall as me. After being frightened by the dogs I decided I’d earned the right to include it in the painting. The Kilburn White Horse is a figure cut into the hillside at Sutton Bank in North Yorkshire. It was created as a northern version of the chalk figures in the South of England in 1857 by John Hodgson, a local school master, aided by his pupils and local volunteers. The very best views are to be had from the gliders which set off from above the horse, from Sutton Bank Gliding Club."
