a work from my final show 1974 'titled rock and hard place' cast forms from whitley bay beach, environmental concerns have always played a role in the research of Anthony Heywood dating from his student works in early 1970’s these issues whilst always being ‘his’ central concern have now become mainstream in contemporary art practice over the last two decades. Many distinctive values are associated with the environment, practical ones concerning the use of resources, ethical ones raised by the extinction of species and environmental pollution, practical values in assuring that the earth can support a growing population. Central amongst those values are our regional concerns with water, and other natural resources, this concern is not only the appreciation of the natural processes but the recognition of the values embodied in the built environment, the landscape of the city and countryside shaped by human action.