From horses to heroes
The RAF's Hurricane, a vital weapon of 87 and 213 Fighter Squadrons based at Exeter Airfield during the Battle of Britain When I heard that a local sculptor whose favourite subject is horses was going to create a Battle of Britain memorial statue I imagined that designing a variation of a Pegasus figure would be the obvious aim. For the last 20 years local sculptor Frances Margaret has been creating original equine pieces like those shown below. Many have ended up in the homes of horse lovers worldwide, including celebrities like Olympic rider Mary King and opera legend Luciano Pavarotti. Growing up on the family farm in Otterton left her with a lifelong passion for horses, and it was during an art class in Exmouth led by the ceramicist Brian Adams that her talent for sculpture came to light. "He helped to show me the technicalities of modelling in clay," she recalls. "It was during one of his pottery painting classes that I (because I couldn't paint!) saw a lump...