'Derwent Walk Express' and supporting bridge abutment and approach spans

Frieze in polychrome relief, installed on a C19 bridge abutment and approach spans; 1986 by Andy Frost.

The frieze is c1.5m high and c33m long. It depicts a steam train and the local landscape in relief, and is composed of layers of marine ply bonded with epoxy resin, painted and lacquered. The work marks the Swalwell entrance to Derwent Walk Country Park. It is mounted on the bridge abutment and approach spans which carried the Derwent Valley Railway across the Hexham road. This is a linear structure of coursed, squared rubble, orientated SW–NE, with five segmental arches and short returns at both ends. The frieze is affixed to the structure by means of a series of steel brackets.

The main elevation fronts the Hexham road and depicts, in a stylised manner, a steam locomotive and carriages in motion. The train is painted red, with details in black, orange and other colours. The eastern return shows the front of the engine and incorporates the arms of County Durham Council, the former Tyne & Wear County Council and Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council. A Nuclear Free Zone symbol was originally included, but is now absent.

A stylised tableaux of animals (such as a beetle, squirrel, butterfly and badger) within a rural landscape obscure the rear of the train and continue around the north-eastern corner. These sections have an undulating outline and are painted in shades of green, brown and blue. The sections of frieze become intermittent with increasing distance from the road, having the visual effect of blending into the landscape of the County Park. One of the panels on the east elevation is missing, as confirmed by exposed brackets. The rear of the bridge abutment and the west elevation of the viaduct feature similar sections of frieze depicting rural and industrial landscapes.

Several signs are affixed to the northern abutment; these were part of Frost’s commission and are executed in marine ply. On the road elevation is a long plaque with raised lettering and clipped corners in a Victorian railway style. It reads ‘DERWENT WALK COUNTRY PARK’. The flanking elevations feature wayfinding signs in a similar style. Set into the east wall are two small stainless steel plaques: ‘DERWENTWALK / EXPRESS / by / ANDREW FROST / Unveiled by / NORMAN BUCHAN MP / 9 OCTOBER 1986 / Funding by Tyne and Wear County Council, / Gateshead MBC, and Northern Arts’; and ‘BBC / TOWNSCAPE / AWARD/ 1988’.

The railway abutment wall and approach spans beneath the sculpture are included in the listing.