Art and sculpture trails

A look at some of the art and and sculpture trails we've followed this year.

This summer we've seen a number of different art and sculpture trails pop-up in Greater Manchester and beyond.

Last year there was the Bee in the City trail in Manchester with 100 big bees and 130 little bees to spot. Some of those are still in situ.

A bee in Didsbury

There was also an ice sculpture trail in Stockport town centre last December and this summer the town has had a very popular frog trail with 22 decorated frogs to spot on the Giant Leap.

A froggy character was part of the Stockport Ice Trail last December

Edgeleap, the Stockport County frog

As fans of tickable lists, wandering and exploring we've enjoyed the different art and sculpture trails we've taken part in.

Earlier this summer the Trafford Centre had a Big Bug Tour and on a recent trip to the Lowry Outlet mall in Media City we saw there was a Bear Hunt.

Meadow grasshopper - number 8 on the Big Bug Tour

Sitting on a sitting Grizzly Bear - number 2 on the Lowry Outlet's Bear Hunt

The latest trail we followed was quite unexpected. On a trip to visit family and friends in Ipswich we noticed an elephant sculpture at the side of the road and soon noticed a lot more of them on the drive to our hotel.

Elephant number 1 - Pip - the first of the elephants we saw

They were part of Elmer's Big Parade Suffolk in aid of St Elizabeth Hospice with 139 placed around Ipswich. In the short time we were in town we managed to find 55 of them.

Nine of the elephants on parade in Ipswich

We've also found quite a few more of the Space Invader pieces of street art by the French artist Invader on our trips to London and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, as well as seeing some reactivated pieces in Manchester city centre.

The seven Invaders in Gateshead

A selection of the Invaders in Manchester

The various trails and maps we've followed have seen us explore new places, see different things and also rediscover parts of towns and cities.

They're a nice way to bring communities together, attract and retain visitors to towns, shopping centres and malls, as well as raising money for good causes.

Do you have a favourite art-trail, or know of others? Do let us know in the comments.

Related blog posts:
- Art
- Sculptures
- Tickable Lists

Space Invaders in Gateshead

A look at the seven Gateshead Invaders.

The French street artist known as Invader has invaded London, Manchester and Newcastle. On our trip to the World Transplant Games in Newcastle last weekend we were able to add to our tally of Invaders spotted.

Clockwise from top left - NCL_21, NCL_19, NCL_20, NCL_14, NCL_25, NCL_05 and NCL_06

There were originally 25 Space Invaders in Newcastle and Gateshead. Made during the INVASION of Newcastle in 2006. One has since been destroyed. We've found the remaining 24, with seven of these 'Newcastle Invaders' over the border in Gateshead.

• NCL_05
• NCL_06
• NCL_14
• NCL_19
• NCL_20
• NCL_21
• NCL_25

You can find them at Gateshead Interchange, on the approach to the Sage Gateshead and at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.

Invader has so far invaded 78 cities around the world, putting up 3785 pieces.

To date I've managed to find 120 Invaders, worth 3040 points on the Flash Invaders app. At the time of writing I'm ranked 13640 in the ever-changing world rankings. Emily is 34485. The person at the top of the leader-board has found 2544 of them!

Looking for the Space Invaders has been great fun and we've seen lots of the parts of cities we wouldn't necessarily have explored if we weren't Invader hunting.

The Simpsons street art in Newcastle

I love finding street art and I'm a big fan of The Simpsons so it was superb to find this huge mural near The Tyne Bar on the quayside in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Nice

We spotted the artwork while walking along the waterside

We also spotted some Simpsons-related pieces by the Cack Handed Kid on our walk around the city.

A piece by the Cack Handed Kid near the quayside

A Home Slice sticker by the Cack Handed Kid at Hoults Yard in Byker

Street art in Manchester

On Monday I managed to see two of the latest reactivated Invader street art pieces in Manchester.

The French street artist Invader visited Manchester in 2004 and put up 47 pieces of mosaic tile art with a total points value of 970. They look superb.

This Mario Invader is one of my favourites

Over the years some have been damaged, removed and stolen. While some have been lost because the building they were on was knocked down!

That was the case for MAN_15.

The new MAN_15 on a new building in Manchester city centre

A closer look at MAN_15

Invader has invaded 78 cities around the world, putting up 3779 pieces in total.

The reactivated Invader MAN_46. It's probably in the grubbiest location in Manchester

In the UK Invader has also invaded London and Newcastle and we've managed to find a few of his pieces on trips to the two cities.

During my latest trip to Manchester I also saw some of Mr Do Not's stickers in town.

No Space Invaders

No Monopoly

No photos and no love

And I noticed a new sticker has been added to the large Invader piece MAN_45.

The wall around MAN_45 has got increasingly busy in the last year or so

Kim Chunk Un!

Space Invaders street art

As fans of retro video games, tickable lists and urban exploration it's been brilliant to go 'Invader Hunting' over the last year and a half.

Invader LDN_120 in London

Luckily for us French street artist Invader visited Manchester in 2004 and put up 47 pieces of mosaic tile art with a total points value of 970. They look superb.

Invader MAN_16 in Manchester

Here in the UK Invader has also invaded London and Newcastle and we've managed to find a few of his pieces on trips to the two cities.

Invader LDN_24 on Brick Lane in London

But it's in Paris that Invader has really made his mark, with more than 1414 Invaders worth a total of 37650 points to be found all over the city!

Emily's first flashed Invader

Emily's first official Invader logged on the Flash Invaders app was in Paris - PA_598.

PA_598 was worth 10 points

To date I've managed to snap 112 Invaders on the Flash Invaders app - worth 2890 points. At the time of writing I'm ranked 13281st in the ever-changing world rankings. Emily is 62128th. The person at the top of the leader-board has found 2527 of them!

The first Invader I spotted in Manchester that reminded me that they existed - and got me hooked on finding more - was MAN_08 on Withy Grove Stores on Dantzic Street

Looking for the Space Invaders has been brilliant fun and we've seen a lot of cities we wouldn't necessarily have explored if we weren't Invader Hunting. It's always nice to be on a leader-board for something too.

Invader NCL_01 in Newcastle is worth 30 points

To date Invader has invaded 78 cities around the world, putting up 3776 pieces.

Invader LDN_99 in London

Invasion of Manchester

Searching out Invader street art in Manchester.

MAN_16 - 10 points - my favourite

As a fan of retro videogames, tickable lists and urban exploration it's been brilliant to go 'Invader Hunting' in Manchester over the last year.

A Super Mario Invader - MAN_17 - 30 points

French street artist Invader visited the city in 2004 and put up 47 pieces of mosaic tile art with a total points value of 970. They look superb.

Yesterday I managed to find the last of the Invaders currently in place in Manchester.

Invader Hunter

This was MAN_27 and a reactivation of a piece made by Invader in 2004. Unfortunately some of the Invaders have been destroyed or stolen, while some of the buildings the Invaders were on have been knocked down entirely!

The reactivated Invader MAN_27

To date I've managed to snap 37 Invaders on the Flash Invaders app - worth 770 points. I've also visited the locations of some of the destroyed / removed Invaders. Check out my Instagram profile to see more of them.

One of the large 50 pointers - MAN_45

I've seen some of the bootlegs / homages too.

Not an Invader. This is the work of _manic_

Looking for the Space Invaders has been brilliant fun. Along with Emily we've seen a lot of the city we wouldn't necessarily have explored if we weren't Invader Hunting. It's always nice to be on a leaderboard for something too.

I've got a way to go before I'll be troubling the top 100

The first Invader I spotted in Manchester that reminded me that they existed - and got me hooked on finding more - was MAN_08 on Withy Grove Stores on Dantzic Street.

A classic

We've also snapped a few Invaders down in London and recently saw most of the Invaders in Newcastle.

To date Invader has invaded 77 cities around the world, putting up 3692 pieces. We're hoping to visit Paris where he's put up 1371 Invaders!

Check out the Invader website for more information.

Alex Ellison's Flickr page, Invader-Spotter and a whole host of people on Instagram have been very helpful in finding some of the more out of the way and hidden Invaders