The journey of Wooden Boulder

Wooden Boulder as it was first carved

Wooden Boulder is both a sculptural work, and the story of its journey downhill, by river, into the Irish Sea. Watch the film and follow the journey of this work in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art.

Wooden Boulder stuck in a stream

In the summer of 1978, an old oak in the Ffestiniog Valley became available to Nash. He first carved a rough sphere using a new, large chainsaw and intended to take this back to his studio.

A little way down the bank, the boulder became wedged in a waterfall. Nash had no option but to leave it there. It looked good in the streaming water, and so Nash began photographing it... the journey of Wooden Boulder had begun.

Wooden Boulder wedged under a bridge

The following March heavy rainfall shifted Wooden Boulder into the pool below. Still with the intention of moving it to his studio, Nash hauled it out of the stream and rolled it down the next waterfall to the pool below, where it remained for eight years.

Wooden Boulder being hoisted from under a bridge

It became obvious that the Wooden Boulder belonged to the stream; over the next 24 years it moved nine times during storms, eventually floating into the River Dwyryd estuary.