Sultan the Pit Pony
Monday, 8th January 2007 by Alex Turnbull
Near Ystrad Mynach in south Wales, we find a fantastic 200 metre long earth-sculpture of Sultan the Pit Pony.
This is the UK’s largest figurative earth sculpture, and although I'm not sure there's actually much competition for that particular title, Sultan sure is impressive. I particularly like the way his ear sticks right up in the air!
Sultan definitely looks a lot more like a Stallion than a Pit Pony, and as it turns out, this work (by landscape sculptor Mick Petts) was actually named Sultan by the locals - after a famous Pit Pony that used to work in the old colliery.
There's more info on Sultan at the Caerphilly County Borough Council website.
Thanks to Barrie Parham.
About the author
Alex has decided that his title will be Senior Vice President of Stuff.
Are those horseshoe shaped ponds related or a big coincidence?
I would have said yes if they were in more of an order/pattern, but they seem to be all over the place.
Maybe they noticed that they were shaped that way and then done the pony.
Actually, if you look at Google Earth, and put the “Show historical imagery back to Dec 30, 2001, you will not see the horse shoes, but will see sultan.
Actually, there’s probably quite a bit of competition for that title. The UK has many figurative earth sculptures, the most famous being sculptures like the Uffingham Horse, Cerne Abbas giant, Long Man of Wilmington, etc, and many of them prehistoric. I don’t know the precise number, but there must be several dozen across the country, most of them horses.
Neal, I did think of them actually, but concluded that they aren’t sculptures, but rather chalk drawings. I’m pretty sure this puts them in a different category – which is essential I suppose if everything has to win something…
What is this ‘coal industry’ of which you speak? It sounds interesting – i have heard little of such mythical things. Is it anything like ‘shipbuilding’ and ‘intergrated transport policy’ which i believe used to wander Britain in ancient times?
It even shows on the 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey map. Go to http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/frames.htm and search for st131953.