A leading construction company is preparing to deliver 15 tonnes of sand – to a Rhyl beach.
Anwyl Construction are backing the great British tradition of sandcastle building and providing the raw materials for top sand sculptors to create a fantastic sandcastle on Rhyl promenade on Tuesday, August 14.
Artists Jamie Wardley and Andy Moss, of specialist art firm Sandinyoureye, will then set to work building a magical fantasy sandcastle of epic proportions.
And the following day children and families can get involved as Sandinyoureye will be running a series of sandcastle workshops throughout the day.
Jane Brooks, Field Sales Manager for Anwyl Construction, said: “We are providing 15 tons of builders sand for the event as it works better than beach sand.
“But what could be more appropriate for a traditional British beach resort than to have a sandcastle event and as local builders we are delighted to be able to support it.
“It should be a lot of fun on both days, both to see the fantastic things that Jamie and Andy can create and to have a go at their workshops – your sandcastles will never be the same again.”
Sand artist Andy Moss says the sculpture they will be creating will take most of the day and will be as tall as they can possibly make it.
He said: “We do work to a plan but the Rhyl sculpture will be a fantasy castle. In the past we have built precise replicas of actual castles but this will be more of a fairytale castle with turrets and high windows.
“What I can say is that it will be impressive. We will make preliminary drawings before we start and then work to that plan. It is all about preparation. The sand needs to be firm and wet.
“We begin creating the shape using garden spades. However, as the sculpture progresses the tools get finer and finer from builders’ floats to trowels and eventually sculpting knives.”
He added: “It’s a long process and something, to be honest, you can’t hurry. The Rhyl sculpture will actually be quite small considering some of our past projects.
“For example Jamie, who founded Sandinyoureye almost a decade ago, completed a sculpture of Charles Darwin which used 120 tonnes of sand and took over a week to complete.”
And Jamie says the Bradford-based company has completed work for a range of top British and international clients.
He said: “We don’t just sculpt in sand but also do large scale sand drawings as well as sculpting using ice as the raw material.
“We have worked right across Europe and even travelled as far as Colombia for clients such as Fox Films, Ford, Mars and so forth.
“Jamie is a self-taught artist and is incredibly naturally gifted. And although I completed a fine art sculpture degree at Newcastle, our work is about having fun and delivering sculptures that are as hugely impressive as they are intricate.”
He said: “I would encourage everyone to come along and watch us work while we sculpt what will be a breath-taking sandcastle and then join in one of the workshops the following day. The workshops are always very popular indeed.”
